
Class [j 

Book J^_3- 

Gopyfiglit]^^_ 



HOW TO 

STUDY AND TEACH 

THE BIBLE 



BY 



S. N. VASS, A. M., D. D. 



TEACHER TRAINING BOOK 

National Baptist Convention, U. S. A. 



Published by the 

Sunday School Publishing Board 

412-4th Ave., N,, Nashville, Tenn. 






-2 
s5 



Copyrighted, 1922, 
Sunday School Publishing Board. 



CU692433 



to anne victoria vass, 
my sainted mother, through 
whose sacrifice and consecra- 
tion i was trained for service; and 
to mary eliza haywood, my late be- 
lovi;d wife, who kept the home fires burn- 
ing WHILE I TAUGHT THE BIBLE TO THOUSANDS OF 
people SCATTERED OVER THIS WIDE COUNTRY; 
AND TO EDNA EARLE MITCHELL, MY PRES- 
ENT DEVOTED WIPE, WHO IS SHARING 
WITH ME THE HARDSHIPS OF CON- 
STANT TRAVEL IN UNSELFISH 
SERVICE FOR THE KINGDOM, 
THIS BOOK IS AFFEC- 
TIONATELY DEDI- 
CATED. 

AUTHOR. 



PUBLISHER'S NOTE. 



The Sunday School Publishing Board of 
the National Baptist Convention, U. S. A., 
is sending forth this book as the official 
teacher training manual for Negro Baptist 
Sunday Schools of America, and we consid- 
er ourselves fortunate to be able to secure 
the services of Dr. S. N. Vass as author— a 
Sunday school expert and a Bible scholar. 
Dr. Vass has had more than a quarter of a 
century's experience in Sunday school and 
Bible work. 

This book is the first one written by Dr. 
Vass bearing on this work, and shows the 
secret of his wonderful grasp upon the Bi- 
ble. If there were no other features to the 
book but the Bible instruction, it would rich- 
ly repay the price at which we are selling 
the book. But in addition to the Bible in- 
struction given, every side of teacher train- 
ing is taken up, the methods of successful 
teaching are brought out, and a study of the 

(6) 




A. M. TOWNSEND, A. M., M. D., D. D. 



^ 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 7 

pupil is presented, all of which is very help- 
ful and illustrated with diagrams, and so on. 
Information is given showing how to make 
a Sunday school measure up to the right 
standard, and the book finally closes by set- 
ting for the Sunday school a standard as 
adopted for the Negro Baptist schools of the 
country. 

This book gives in full the Teacher Train- 
ing Course of our Sunday School Publishing 
Board, and in the introduction there is ex- 
plained the reason for our offering this 
course. The Sunday School Publishing Board 
indorses the idea that a thorough knowledge 
of the Bible is necessary in order to be an 
efficient Sunday school teacher. Another 
advantage this book offers over others is 
the fact that it is the only denominational 
Teacher Training Book written from begin- 
ning to end by one man, and the book is thus 
a unity, and not inconsistent with itself. 

The book is a book of methods. Every- 
thing in the book has practical value that 
has been attested by being actually tried 
out. Our Board expects to put this book 
in every Sunday school of our denomination. 



8 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

Our fondest hope is that it may enjoy the 
widest possible circulation and use, and be 
a means of the greatest help to Sunday 
school teachers and Bible workers. 

Secretary, 
SUNDAY SCHOOL PUBLISHING BOARD, 
National Baptist Convention, U. S. A., 

Nashville, Tennessee. 




S. N. VASS, A. M., D. D. 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 



My apology for writing this book is the 
special request from Dr. A. M. Townsend 
and the Sunday School Publishing Board, 
and also because I have waited ample time 
before daring to put in print the methods 
by which I have studied the Bible for my 
own benefit for a number of years. The 
methods here suggested in this book contain 
the secret of my being able to lecture on the 
entire Bible without the use of notes. I re- 
gard it as peculiarly fitting that my own 
tried method of lecturing and teaching 
should be given in this Teacher Training 
Book, and that I have not put myself for- 
ward, but have been requested by our Board 
to do this. The controlling reason why I 
have not written before was the fact that 
my Lord and Master wrote no books, pre- 
ferring to personally teach a small group 
of men. 

There is just one desire I have, and that is 
that God will be glorified and my own peo- 
ple helped by this humble effort. 

(9) 



ERRATA. 



Page 23, "second year" should read "third year," in 
line 20. 

Page 65, in line 19, "angels" should read "God." 
Page 167, in line 5, "after" should read "namely." 
Page 370, line 19, "testimony" should read "tendency." 
Page 382, lines 19, 20 and 21 should read: "Verbal mem- 
ory is the ability to especially remember words, and is of 
little advantage as compared with the memory of reason." 
Page 490, in the bibliography, "Bothering" shoulld read 
"Brothering (the Boy." 

Page 491, "Part IV" should read "Part V. 



PLAN OF THIS BOOK. 

PART I. GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 

PART II. THE BIBLE. 

PART III. THE TEACHER. 

PART IV. THE PUPIL. 

PART V. THE SCHOOL. 



To secure diploma,' take time and write out neatly on 
foolscap paper, on one side only, every question alfter 
every lesson with the appropriate answer and turn same 
over to teacher or file same with the 

SUNDAY SCHOOL PUBLISHING BOARD, 

National Baptist Convention, U. S. A., 

412-420 Fourth Avenue, North, Nashville, Tenn. 



No diploma will be given until pupil has taught one 
year on supply. 



(11) 



GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

PART I.— GENERAL INTRODUCTION 15- 

1. Teacher Training" Course of the Sunday School 

Publishing Board of the National Baptist Conven- 
tion 17. 

2. The Significance and Essentials of Teacher Train- 
ing 25. 

3. Studying the Bible for Teaching Value 31. 

4. Teacher Training' in Christian Colleges 37. 

PART II.— THE BIBLE 43. 

Quotation from the Bible. 

1. The Value of Bible Study to Teachers 47. 

2. Our Eng-lish Bible to Date 57. 

3. The So-called Baptist Bible 63. 

4. Introduction to the Old Testament 69. 

5. Sources of the Hebrew Scriptures 75. 

6. Purpose of the Bible 81. 

7. Geography of the Bible 85. 

8. How to Study the Bible 93. 

9. The Hig-her Criticism, the Lower Criticism, 

and Just Plain Interpretation of the Bible 103. 

10. Interpretation of the Bible 113. 

11. The Historical Study of the Old Testament ___ 119. 

12. The Spiritual Study of the Old Testament __i_ 137. 

13. SpeciaJl Interpretation of the Prophets 175. 

14. The Bible Interim 183. 

15. Judaism and Christianity 189. 

16. New Testament Introduction 195. 

17. The Gospel's Contribution to the Life of Christ 

199, 

18. Periods of the Life of Christ 213*. 

19. Brief Outline of Christ's Life 221. 

20. The Life of Jesus 227. 

21. The Teachings of Jesus 253. 

(12) 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 13 

22. Origin and Growth of the Church 261. 

23. An Exposition of Christianity 275, 

24. The Triumph of Christianity 285. 

Bibliography. 



PART III.— THE TEACHER. 295. 

Quotation from Rein. 

1. The Personality of the Teacher 299. 

2. Authority dn Teaching 309. 

3. Essentials of Real Teaching 319. 

4. Methods of Teaching 327. 

5. The Teacher and His Mastery of the Lesson 

337. 

6. The Teacher's Lesson Preparation 343. 

7. The Teacher's Lesson Plan 351. 

8. Attention 357. 

9. The Use of the Question 363. 

10. Self Activity or Handwork 375. 

11. The Memory 381. 

12. The Will 391. 

13. The Feelings 399. 

Bdbliiography. 



PART IV.— THE PUPIL 407. 

Quotation from Herbart. 

1. The Study of the Pupil 411. 

2. The Personality of the Pupil 419. 

3. How the Mdnd Learns 427. 

4. Studying the Pupils by Groups 437. 

5. Childhood 443. 

6. Adolescence 457. 

7. The Adult ' 465. 



14 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

8. Bible Teaching- Values 469. 

9. How to Lead a Pupil to Chrisft 477. 

10. The Trailing- of a Pupil 483. 

Bibliography. 

PART v.— THE SCHOOL , 491. 

Quotation from Herbart. 

1. The Place of the School 495, 

2. Public School and Sunday School 501. 

3. Sunday School Organization 507. 

4. Sunday School Equipment 527. 

5. Housing a City School 539. 

6. Housing a' Country School 547. 

7. The Graded Idea 551. 

8. The Pafetor and the School 563. 

9. How to Secure Promptness 569. 

10. Eecreation 575. 

11. The Social Side 581. 

12. How to Secure New Teachers 587. 

13. Evangelism 591. 

14. The Opportunity of a Country Sunday School 

597. 

15. The Program of the School 603. 

Bibliography. 



PART I. 
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

1. Teacher Training Course of the Sunday School Pub- 
lishing Board of the National Baptist Convefntion. 

2. The Significance and Essentials of Teacher Training. 

3. Studying the Bible for Teaching Value. 

4. Teacher Training in Christian Colleges. 



I. 



THE TEACHER TRAINING COURSE 

ADOPTED BY THE SUNDAY 

SCHOOL PUBLISHING BOARD 

OF THE NATIONAL BAPTIST 

CONVENTION. 

Our Own Regular Course. 

This book is in four parts and represents 
four studies constituting our own Teacher 
Training Course, viz., The Bible, The Teach- 
er, The Pupil, and The School. Teachers 
who complete all four parts of this course 
as it appears in this book, and pass a suc- 
cessful examination on the same, and who 
have been teaching in the Sunday school 
for one year, will be awarded the Teacher 
Training Diploma issued by the Sunday 
School Publishing Board. 

Post Graduate Work. 

Those who graduate from the regular 
course may take post graduate studies in 
the Bible, and Departmental specialization, 

(17) 

Sig— 2. 



18 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

and suitable seals will be afRxed for each 
year of additional work. 

Below w^e print the course of study as 
recommended by the International Sunday 
School Association and the Sunday School 
Council of Evangelical Publishers. It is 
the desire of our Board that our teachers 
will take all the studies of this New Stand- 
ard Curriculum as a post graduate course. 
It has occurred to us as best to grant the 
diploma after finishing our own Teacher 
Training Book which is about equivalent to 
two years of the course as recommended 
l')elow, except the Program of the Christian 
Religion, and How^ to Train the Devotional 
Life: 

The New Standard Teacher Training 
Course. 

I. BASIC PRINCIPLES. 

(1) The course is constructed to equip the teacher to 
meet the needs of the pupil's developing' life, 

(2) The course emphasizes educational m.ethod as over 
against mere content material. 

(3) The course presupposes Bible knowledge vvhich 
should be had either in the regular gi'aded Sunday School 
Course or in special courses. 

(4) The course covers three years of work with forty 
lesson periods for each year. 

(5) The course provides an arrangement of units in 
the order of their immediate application by the teacher; 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 19 

the first year's work including the subjects deemed most 
vital; the second year's work supplanting^ that of the first 
and preparing- for specialization, and the third year pro- 
viding the specialization. 

(6) The course offers specialized training for the vari- 
ous departments of the Modern Sund^^y School. 

(7) The course is co-ordinated, requiring one diploma 
to be awarded upon the final completion of the course, the 
partial recognition may be given throughout the course as 
<iesired. 

II. OUTLINE SPECIFICATIONS. 

First Year. 

Ten lessons on The Pupil. 

Ten Ilessons on The Principles of Teaching. (With em- 
phasis on general psychology.) 

Ten lessons on How to Teach the Life of Christ. (A 
typical example of the proper use of Biblical material for 
the different grades.) 

Ten lessons on the Sunday School. (An outline of the 
aim, curriculum and organization of the modern Sunday 
School.) 

Second Year. 

Ten lessons on The Significance and Teaching VaDue of 
the Old Testament. 

Ten Kessons on the Significance and Teaching Values of 
the New Testament. (Other than the Life of Christ.) 

Ten lessons on The Program of the Christian Religion. 
(Including the social and missionary interpretation of the 
Gospel, and teaching of missions, temperance and social 
service.) 

Ten lessons on How to Train the Devotional Life. (The 
nurture, training and expression of the spiritual life, es- 
pecially in prayer and public worship.) 

Third Year. 

Beginner and Primary Unite. 

Specialized Child Study. Beginner and Primary Age. 
(Twenty Lessons.) 



20 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

Story Telling. (Selection and telling of stories togeth- 
er with practice work in class. Ten lessons.) 

Beginner and Primary Methods. (Including practice 
teaching and observation. Ten lessons.) 

(If desired for purposes of publication, the treatment of 
the above topics for teachers of beginners may be sepa- 
rated from that of Primary teachers.) 



The Junior Units. 



r 



Specialized Child Study — Junior Age. (Ten lessons.) 

Christian conduct for Juniors. (Including special ref- 
erences to habit and Christlike actions. Ten lessons.) 

Junior Teaching Material and Its Use. (Story Tell- 
ing, Analysis and Emphasis with practice teaching. Ten 
lessons.) 

Junior Department Organization and Methods with 
practice teaching and observation. (Ten lessons.) 

Early and Middle Adolescence Units. 

A Study of Earl!y and Middle Adolescence. (A special- 
ized study of the pupil, intermediate and senior age. Ten 
lessons.) 

The Agencies of Religious Education. (A study of the 
Early and Middle Adolescent's World. Ten lessons.) 

Teaching Material and Methods. (Provisions to be 
made for the observation and practice work in this group. 
Ten lessons.) 

Methods of Work with Young People. (Including the 
whole field of organization and administration. Ten les- 
sons.) 

Adult Units. 

The Psychology of the Adult and His Religious Educa- 
tion. (Ten lessons.) 

Adult Aims and Methods. (Ten lessons.) 
The Church, Its Activities and Leadership. (Empha- 
sizing* the special responsibilities of the Adult Class, in- 
cluding its social activities. Ten lessons.) 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 21 

Administrative Units, 

The History and Principles of Religious Education. 
(Ten lessons.) 

The Educational Task of the Local Church. (Ten les- 
sons.) 

The Sunday School Curriculum. (Ten lessons.) 

Sunday School Management. (Ten lessons.) 

It can be seen that the third year of the 
New Stanciard Course is given over to De- 
partmental Specialization, and it is the de- 
sire of our Board that our graduates will 
push right on through in their studies un- 
til they have completed every unit in this 
third year. 

Our Board feels it the better plan to is- 
sue the diploma upon completion of How 
To Teach and Study the Bible, which is our 
own book, and to allow additional units for 
post graduate work. 

Our Plan of Teaching the Course. 

1. Our own Teacher Training Course 
may be taken by regular active Sunday 
School teachers by organizing themselves 
into classes, each teacher purchasing a 
book, the class convening once a week in 
connection with the regular teachers' meet- 
ing, the time being divided equally. 

2. A new department called the Teacher 



22 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

Training Department composed of pupils 
18, 19, and 20 years of age will take the 
course. This is properly the Young Peo- 
ple's Department, but those looking for- 
ward to graduation with the joint diploma 
of our Board and the local Sunday School 
are requested to enter the Teacher Train- 
inng Department at eighteen years of age. 
3. Those who cannot take the study in 
any class for any reason whatever may take 
it directly from the Educational Depart- 
ment of our Sunday School Publishing 
Board, Nashville, Tennessee. 

Registration at Nashville. 

Each person taking a Teacher Training 
Course is required to register with the 
Board, and each person is to purchase a 
book. Diplomas will not be issued except 
to those whose names are registered with 
the Board at Nashville. 

New Standard Joint Diplomas. 

For the encouragement of those perse- 
vering in their studies to the point of com- 
pletion of all three years of the New Stand- 
ard Course, arrangements are also made 
by which such persons shall not only re- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 28 

ceive the BoarcFs diploma and seals, but the 
joint diploma of the International Sunday 
School Association will also be awarded. 

All the studies are to be taken through 
the Sunday School Publishing Board, and 
all diplomas will come from Nashville, Ten- 
nessee, the Headquarters of the Board. 

All the books in the New Standard Course 
have not been written, nor even decided up- 
on by the different denominations as yet, but 
teachers wishing to take that full course, 
after first finishing our own course and 
passing final examination, may learn the 
name and cost of the books of the third year 
by writing the Educational Department, 
Sunday School Publishing Board, Nash- 
ville, Tenn. 

By the time our own course is finished, 
we ourselves will have published another 
book that may be taken the second year. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. How does our own Teacher Training Course diffe?' 
from the New Standard? 

2. What are the requirements to secure our own di- 
ploma? 

3. What are the requirements to secure the New 
standard diploma ? 

4. How much credit will our own diploma contribute 
toward that of the New Standard Course? 

5. Who issues the New Standard diploma? 



THE SIGNIFICANCE AND ESSENTIALS 
OF TEACHER TRAINING. 

The Need of Teacher Training is seen on 
all sides, and certainly any one^ought to re- 
ceive suitable training to do anything well. 

Ignorance of the Bible is appalling. Per- 
haps the greatest of all the needs of teachers 
is Bible knowledge, for Bible information 
would largely furnish us with what we need 
as teachers. 

Knowledge Begets Enthusiasm along any 
line and if we had more Bible knowledge 
we could at least teach with greater en- 
thusiasm, and enthusiasm itself would 
greatly improve our teaching. 

The Knowledge of the Pupil is only a par- 
tial study of the great field of Human Na- 
ture and the Bible is full of human nature. 
To know God is to know man. 

The New Evangelism is the way some 
speak of the great triumph that is follow- 
ing the teaching of God's word in our Sun- 
day schools. A new generation is upon us 

(25) 



26 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

and new methods are demanded, and the 
old way of ''receiving converts, branding 
them and then turning them loose," without 
any effort at training them in Bible knowl- 
edge is responsible for the foolish vagaries 
of church members who are prepared to 
run oil after anything that they are told is 
taught in God's word. Someone has said 
that Baptists believe so thoroughly in the 
Bible that we prick up our ears when any 
one claims to be teaching the Bible. We 
need converts who comie as a result of God's 
W'Ord. 

The Emphasis Upon the Child in these 
days ought to show us our opportunity and 
duty. Never was the child more loved, 
more studied or more and better under- 
stood; and if we prepare ourselves we 
ought to get great results and we will. 

Consecrated Teachers the Need. It mat- 
ters not how thoroughly we may prepare 
from an intellectual standpoint, if we do 
not consecrate ourselves and make up our 
minds to make a sacrifice of ourselves, and 
of our pleasure, and of our time for Jesus' 
sake, w^e will continue to prove m.iserable 
failures before our classes. The churches 
ought to face the situation squarely and get 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 27 

down on their knees and pray earnestly for 
consecrated men and women for this work, 
for the words of Jesus apply now: "The 
harvest truly is plenteous but the laborers 
are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the 
harvest that he would send forth laborers 
into his harvest" Matt. 9:37. 

The Work of Teaching the Word is God^s 
work. The time is ripe for bringing men 
and women into line with God's word. It is 
God's harvest, surely he will help us to se- 
cure suitable laborers, if we take the mat- 
ter to heart and lay it before the Lord of 
the harvest. 

The Bible Is a Well Conceived and Delib- 
erately Planned Course of Study for Chris- 
tian people, prepared under the guidance 
of the Holy Spirit, who is the best of all 
teachers, for it was the Spirit in Jesus that 
crowned him the master teacher. The 
great educator, Froebel, taught that the pu- 
pil must advance in mental development in 
precisely the' same way the human race has 
gone forward. Now the Bible is the rec- 
ord of the advancement of the human 
race, and when we ourselves go over the 
record of this progress as laid down in the 
Bible, and no where else but in the Bible 



28 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. . 

itself, the course we thus follow meets the 
highest dictum of science. THE BIBLE IS 
THE BEST TEACHER TRAINING BOOK 
IN THE WORLD. 

Too Much Science and Too Little of Holy 
Spirit in present day Teacher Training 
Standards is largely responsible for the lack 
of interest in this line. The teacher is asked 
to study psychology before he studies the 
Bible in most courses of study laid out. 

Too Much Taken for Granted is the cause 
of many a failure to teach properly. The 
fact is, there is a sad lack of Bible knowl- 
edge even among preachers as well as teach- 
ers, and it is hardly short of a calamity 
that many persons entrusted to prepare a 
course of study for Sunday school teachers 
should insist upon technical terms and pro- 
cesses that the average teacher does not 
understand. "When he ascended on high, 
he led captivity captive, and gave gifts un- 
to men," Eph. 4 :8, which means that Christ's 
ascension resulted in the Holy Spirit im- 
parting special gifts for service upon a 
scale never before possible. He will help 
us to teach if we will honor him by spirit- 
ually studying the Bible properly. 
Our Teachers Will Study the Bible when 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 29 

it is properly presented to them, not in 
dead outlines, and stereotyped phases, but 
in a way that will cause them to see that 
"Christ is all and in all" Col. 3:1L .^^] 

"Sir, We Would See Jesus/^ Jno. 12:21, 

He will help us to make good as Sunday 
school teachers if we will do our utmost 
to help ourselves. But to see Jesus requires 
much more than an outline study of Jesus'' 
life. To see Jesus we must go back to the 
Old Testament and study it, not for teach- 
ing values, but for the purpose of getting 
a line on him. even before he came to earth, 
so that when he is presented to us in the 
Gospels we shall be prepared to appreciate 
him. Just as the teacher must arouse the 
interest of the pupil and get him in the prop- 
er frame of mind before presentation of 
the subject proper, even so God has left us 
the Old Testament for that very purpose, 
and unless our minds are prepared by the 
prophecy of the Old Testament we shall fail 
to see Jesus as he is presented in the New 
Testament. 

There is no such thing as seeing Jesus 
and yet remaining sinners and scoffers. 
We must be sober and morally earnest in 
studying the Bible and learning of Jesus. 



30 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 



This means that we will live up to our be- 
lief, for there is no Faith apart from an 
effort to live the Christian life. 



QUESTIONS. 

1. What will produce enthusiasm in teaching"? 

2. Define the New Evang-elism. 

3. How is the Bible a Course of Study? 

4. What is the Sunday school teacher's greatest need? 

5. How is Christ "All and in all"? 

6. Who was it that said, "Sir, we would see Jesus" ? 




III. 

STUDYING THE BIBLE FOR TEACH- 
ING VALUES. 

In the New Standard Teacher Training 
Course it is stated "The Course presup- 
poses Bible Knowledge which should be had 
either in the regular Graded Sunday School 
Course, or in special courses." 

But the question arises: What is to be 
done in case the teachers have not taken the 
course they are presupposed to have tak- 
en ? Another question is : What is the ex- 
tent of the knowledge of the teacher tak- 
ing the New Standard Course, since it is 
presupposed? It is suggested that a strict- 
ly graded literature will have supplied the 
necessary preparation, but graded litera- 
ture does not furnish either the historical 
or the spiritual study, but is largely socio- 
logical and ethical and disconnected, and 
more on the order of a Bible reading than 
systematic study. It frankly proceeds up- 
on the hypothesis that the Bible is useful 
chiefly for reference purposes, and con- 

(31) 



32 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

nected historical and systematic studies is 
no longer relied upon for results. Indeed 
the impression is made upon us that if only 
the teacher knows psychology and peda- 
gogy he need not bother so much about de- 
tail of Bible knowledge. We should cer- 
tainly like to see this theory in action. No 
effort is made whatever to teach the Bible 
as such, although it clearly represents the 
books representing God's choice as consti- 
tuting the best course of study for the 
purpose of the Kingdom. It is said 
that the teachers are supposed to have 
taken special courses in the Bible. What 
reason is there for such presumption? 
But it all depends upon how much Bible 
knowledge is presumed, and it is evidently a 
very slight knowledge. And that is only 
presumed for surely no reasonable person 
would presume anything like a thorough 
knowledge of the Bible on the part of aver- 
age Sunday school teachers, or, what is 
worse, persons who are not even yet teach- 
ing, for surely this course is for the prepa- 
ration of new teachers especially. 

Candidly, this new Standard Course falls 
down in this particular matter and those 
taking the course should be warned in time 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 83 

and put on their guard that some highly 
responsible authority has blundered in this 
important matter, and erred seriously. By 
every law of both psychology and pedagogy 
worthy of respect in the teaching process, 
the first essential is the teacher and the first 
requirement of the teacher is that he should 
both know and practice what he would 
teach. Why make an exception here? 

Our Sunday school teachers need to be 
reminded that all so-called Christians do 
not place the emphasis upon the Bible^we 
have been accustomed to place. 

In some quarters we hear of a need of 
cutting out certain portions of the Bible. 
Some speak of making a better Bible. We 
stand for the Bible as sufficient for all our 
spiritual and social needs with the right in- 
terpretation. 

It is not sufficient for persons taking a 
Teacher Training Course to simply study 
the Bible for teaching values. No Scrip- 
ture will be of any teaching value unless 
first it has living value in making the teach- 
er a bigger and better person as a teacher. 
The personality of the teacher is imma- 
terial it seems here, for surely it takes more 
than a superficial knowledge of the Bible to 



34 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

make the teacher's personality what it 
ought to be. Why should it be so over nec- 
essary for Sunday school teachers to know 
certain teaching values in the Bible at the 
expense of a real grip upon the Bible, since 
the teacher has absolutely no freedom of 
choice in the m.atter of the portions of Scrip- 
ture that constitute the prescribed course 
of study in our Sunday Schools ? We pro- 
test, it is the International Lesson Commit- 
tee, and not the young teacher, that needs 
the'lessons on teaching values. It really looks 
like the real object is to shut out real Bible 
instruction and knowledge from the teach- 
ers of the future, and to substitute psychol- 
ogy and sociology upon which scarcely any 
two authorities are exactly agreed. In 
this book we shall take up teaching values 
of the Bible under the part that discusses 
the pupil, and we shall use this opportunity 
under the head of the Bible to help to arouse 
genuine interest in the study of the Bible 
as essential to teaching it. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is meant by "teachings values"? 

2. What criticism is offered against studying the Bible 
for "teaching values" only? 

3. What is meant by graded literature? 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 35 

4. What is the Bible study plan in graded literature ? 

5. What is psychology? 

6. What is pedagogy? 

7. Where in this book can the reader find hints on 
"teaching values" in the Bible? 




IV. 

TEACHER TRAINING IN COLLEGES. 

It would seem that it would be hardly 
necessary to advocate a special chair of 
Sunday^ school pedagogy in our theologi- 
cal seminaries, and yet it would apear that 
our colleges are going ahead of these schools 
of the prophets in preparing properly 
equipped leaders for the teaching depart- 
ments of the church. It is now becoming a 
conviction that Christian institutions should 
equip the students to become leaders in the 
various departments of the work of the 
church. It has sometimes happened that 
a young person has graduated from one of 
our best colleges, and yet would not be able 
to teach a Sunday school lesson, nor take 
charge of a school. This situation is grad- 
ually improving. Teacher Training Classes 
are now formed upon a voluntary basis but 
few of these classes have ever graduated 
from the full three years' course recom- 
mended as a suitable standard, especially 
for college pupils. Moreover, most of these 

(37) 



38 ^ HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

colleges are using a text book iii Teacher 
Training that does not meet the needs, and 
is not recommended by our Baptist con- 
ventions and associations. Baptists are 
as capable along the line of Sunday school 
work as any other denomination, and gen- 
erally the Baptists lead in all educational 
work. It was the Baptists through the 
American Baptist Publication Society that 
first advocated and perfected the Graded 
Lesson System under the name of the Key- 
stone Series, and this is confessedly the 
highest standard of graded literature, and 
is far ahead of all others, and so far ahead 
that it is destined to fail of universal ac- 
ceptance. But it is very high class. Since 
Baptists are able to supply proper books 
and literature and standards, our colleges 
should use these in their Teacher Training 
classes. Thus they would not only help 
our denominational work, but they would 
really be helping their own pupils, for when 
they leave school they will, no doubt, work 
in our churches and schools and they should 
understand the leaders and conditions 
among their own people. 

What is the matter with our Christian 
schools any way ? Do they know what high 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 39 

standard is set for Teacher Training in this 
country? And what is the matter with our 
theological schools especially? If they do 
not stress Teacher Training they are out of 
date and behind time. A full standard 
course ought to be required of each gradu- 
ate. The idea of a Christian school gradu- 
ating young people who cannot teach nor 
manage a Sunday school. It is high time for 
our schools to wake up, and take their own 
denominational Teacher Training Course 
in affiliation with our own Sunday School 
Publishing Board. Every preacher ought 
to be an expert on Sunday school work, and 
the schools are doing the preachers and 
and people a great injustice not to place 
more emphasis upon training for Sunday 
school teachers. 

Even public schools are recognizing, and 
in a way co-operating with the Sunday 
schools. In New York City an arrange- 
ment has been made to turn over to the de- 
nominational agencies pupils of a depart- 
ment at certain hours during the regular 
public school session for religious instruc- 
tion, because of the conviction of the neces- 
sity of religious instruction for pupils of 
our schools. At Gary, Indiana, such credit 



40 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

as a pupil obtains by reason of his atten- 
dance upon and studies in our Christian 
Sunday schools is allowed to count for a 
certain number of units of credit toward 
his standing and graduation in the public 
school. In North Carolina, an examination 
must be passed upon some teacher training 
book by all teachers of the State. Colo- 
rado State Teachers' Association is on rec- 
ord as favoring closer relation between 
the public school and the Sunday school. 
Indeed, the Sunday school has so developed, 
and its usefulness and possibilities have so 
impressed men and women in high positions 
and authority, that it is thought that in the 
near future philanthropists will consider 
the Sunday schools as worthy of special 
benefactions at their hands. The great Lon- 
don Times of England some time ago pub- 
lished a striking editorial to this effect, 
while in our own country our leading edu- 
cators are beginning to see that something 
must be done to supplement the regular 
public school course in the way of moral 
and religious training. 

Petty denominational jealousies are re- 
sponsible for the present attitude of these 
public schools against Bible study, as well as 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 41 

unchristian teachers and officers in many 
cases. It probably is true that more pub- 
lic school teachers take part in dancing than 
take part in teaching in the Sunday schools. 
But the thing that surprises us most is 
the attitude of our Christian colleges to- 
ward high class Sunday school work. There 
is a movement on foot to recognize the units 
of credit for Sunday school work to count 
for college work, provided the class of work 
done in the Sunday school will compare 
favorably with that done in college and 
high school. It would mean a great deal 
for Christian educators if this plan is car- 
ried out, and we* call upon our own colleges 
to help us raise the teaching standard of 
our Sunday school in every way possible. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Wlhat is a Christian college? 

2. For what purpose is the Christian college? 

3. Why should Teacher Training- be taught in these 
schools ? 

4. What other Christian schools should instruct in 
Teacher Training? 

5. How long should college and theological students 
study this course? 

6. For what purpose does the State exclude the Bible 
from public schools? 

7. What is being done to offset the moral effect of 
this exclusion of the Bible? 

9. What is the Gary plan? 



PART II. 
THE BIBLE. 



Table of Contents. 



1. The Value of Bible Study to Teachers. 

2. Our Eng-lish Bible to Date. 

3. The So-called Baptist Bible. 

4. Introduction to the Old Testament. 

5. Sources of the Hebrew Scriptures. 

6. Purpose of the Bible. 

7. Geo^aphy of the Bible. 

8. How to Study the Bible. 

9. The Higher Criticism, the Lower Criticism and Just 
Plain Interpretation. 

10. Interpretation of the Bible. 

11. The Historical Study of the Old Testament. 

12. The Spiritual Study of the Old Testament. 

13. Special Interpretation of the Prophets. 

14. The Bdble Interim. 

15. Judaism and Christianity. 

16. New Testament Introduction. 

17. The Gospels' Contribution to the Life of Christ. 

18. Brief Outline of Christ's Life. 

19. The Life of Christ. 

20. The Teachings of Jesus. 

21. Origin and Growth of the Church. 

22. An Exposition of Christianity. 

23. The Triumph of Christianity. 
Bibliography. 



"0 how I love thy law! it is my meditation all 
the day. Thou through thy commandments hast 
made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are 
ever with me. I have more understanding than 
all my teachers : for thy testimonies are my medi- 
tation. I understand more than the ancients, be- 
cause I keep thy precepts. I have refrained my 
feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy 
word. I have not departed from thy judgments: 
for thou hast taught me. Hov/ sweet are thy 
words unto my taste ! yea, sweeter than honey to 
my mouth! Through thy precepts I get under- 
standing : therefore I hate every false way. Thy 
word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my 
path."— Psalm 119:97-105. 



V. 



THE VALUE OF KEAL BIBLE STUDY 
TO TEACHERS. 

The Personal Character of the Teacher 

is the first consideration in teaching. As 
a person impresses himself upon his pupil, 
this personal impression will speak louder 
than his vocal teaching, for what he is him- 
self is what is most impressive upon his pu- 
pils. The teacher should be the right kind of 
a person first of all, and that means he 
should be an earnest and sincere Christian ; 
and to grow along that line, to grow in grace, 
nothing helps like Bible study. This is not 
the place to enter fully into a discussion of 
the personality of the teacher, for this mat- 
ter will come up later in a study of the 
teacher ; but we speak of it here to say that 
the Bible will bring the Holy Spirit into 
one's life and make him able to favorably 
impress all with whom he may come in con- 
tact, most especially his pupils. 

Bible Study, a Training in the Highest 
Culture. It is a training to teach, for in 

(47) 



48 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

its last analysis teaching is the work of the 
spirit of a person. There is a teaching 
spirit, a love for imparting, and a love for 
receiving to impart, the unselfishness that 
comes from God's Spirit. Persons who are 
able to teach have a better understanding 
of the subject than others. A better under- 
standing will develop more enthusiasm in 
the teacher, and enthusiasm is absolutely 
necessary to successful teaching, as we have 
already pointed out. But it not only trains 
to teach, but trains a person to live with 
self-control which will bring self-denial and 
the respect of others. It will train one to 
live a successful life. 

There is no Short Cut to Thorough Bible 
Study. No mere Teacher Training Course 
can adequately supply this information. We 
speak about "teaching values" in the study 
of the Bible as if we are studying the Bible 
primarily to teach it. One will never un- 
derstand the Bible unless he studies it first 
of all for the effect he wishes produced up- 
on his own life. One can never properly 
understand the Bible himself unless he ap- 
plies it to himself first of all. No diagram 
or outlines can furnish what is needed. 
These are mere skeletons that must have 




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HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 49 

flesh to make them alive. There is too much 
studying about the Bible and too little 
studying in the Bible. 

Bible Mastery Should Be the Aim, but it 

will take a lifetime to master, for the Bible 
is graded to each stage of the human life, 
and we cannot understand the part of the 
Bible that belongs to any particular age 
until we reach that period in our lives. 
That is why it is so hard, and in fact, im- 
possible to understand certain Scriptures 
in our day. The wise teacher will not 
doubt what he cannot understand, but re- 
member that he needs more experience and 
more time. And just as the Bible fits into 
the different stages of men's lives, so it fits 
into certain periods of the world. The Bible 
is ahead of the world and that is why so 
few understand and appreciate Bible study. 
But nevertheless, we should aim at mastery, 
and that means that we should study in 
such a manner as to be thorough, and get 
down to the bottom of the matter. 

Reading the Bible Is a Far Diflferent 
Matter From Studying the Bible. We read 
for the sake of the literature, and this is 
not bad, for no literature excels the Old 
Testament as a work of art. The Old Testa- 

Sig.— 3. 



&0. HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE; 

relent was especially written to catch the 
eye and ear of persons of little taste for 
spiritual things, and that is why the book 
excels in rhetoric and every figure of speech^ 
and is largely written in poetry and is po- 
etical even in its prose. There is science 
and art in the literature that compels in- 
terest and attention, but the New Testa- 
ment refers to it as the ^'letter," and says, 
"The letter killeth,'^ i. e., fails to make alive. 
The literature itself fascinates and holds, 
but the spiritual effect is lacking. Mere 
reading of the Old Testament even for de- 
votional purpose, will not bring the desired 
results, nor accomplish w^hat the Bible in- 
tends to produce. We must meditate over 
it. 

We Should Keep the Bible on the Mind 
more or less all the time. The Bible is giv- 
en to us to enable us to make good as Chris- 
tians and to enable us to v/ithstand tempta- 
tions. But if the Bible is not on the mind 
it cannot help. Of course it will not oc- 
cupy the principal place on our minds at all 
times, but it never leaves the mind, and that 
means it is in our subconscience, i. e., on our 
minds vdthout the full power of the will 
and consciousness. Whenever anything 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 51 

thus gets rooted in our minds we are always 
in the end greatly under its influence, and 
whenever the will ceases to hold certain 

things up to the mind, then those things 
that are already rooted in the mind come 
into greater prominence and make a great- 
er impression upon us. That is why the 
Tsalmist felt it was the thing to do to hide 
God's word in the heart that we might not 
sin. That course will bring the result. 

The Teacher Must Believe in Jesus, or he 
will not persevere in his studies, and if we 
believe in Jesus and his word, then v/Heh 
we study the Bible the Spirit comies into 
our lives, and he will help us recall what 
is stored away in our minds, and help lis 
to make good as Christians. If the teacher 
does not himself believe in Jesus, and in 
his word, he cannot induce his pupil nor 
others to believe what he himself does not 
believe. Much of our teaching misses the 
mark because of a real lack of faith in the 
teacher. The kind of Bible knowledge "a 
teacher needs first, last, and all the time, is 
such knowledge as will lead him to live the 
life, and believe in Jesus, and in himself, 
and have a proper estimate of his pupil.' It 
is the privilege of a teacher to reproduce 



52 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

himself in his pupii, and the teacher must 
be what he wishes his pupil to be. 

Bible Crowds Out Sin. God desires that 
our minds should be possessed of his word, 
for that will mean we are under the power 
of the Spirit, for God's word and the Spirit 
go together, for Jesus said, "The words that 
I speak unto you, they are Spirit/' The 
word will eventually crowd out sin, for 
when we are filled with the word we are 
full, and no place is left for the evil spirit. 
But if we are not thus possessed of the 
word then the evil spirit, although once 
cast out, as Jesus says, will eventually re- 
enthrone himself in our minds and hearts. 
One cannot hold God's word in unclean 
bodies, and he cannot study the Bible prop- 
erly and not make a change for the better. 
The Bible is the need of our young people, 
for they run off in frivolity because we are 
not doing our duty by them in faithfully 
showing them a better way out of God's 
word, and by preparing ourselves to proper- 
ly impress the word in our teaching. 

IMPORTANT INFORMATION. 

At the end of each lesson a list of ques- 
tions or suggestions will be given to aid the 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 53 

pupil who is taking this course with a view 
to graduation to better understand the eon- 
tents of each lesson. No diploma will be 
awarded to any one who does not present 
the notes on these questions or suggestions 
along with the special examination at the 
completion of all four parts of this book. It 
is through these notes and questions at the 
end of each lesson that we hope to instruct 
the pupils in the contents of the book in ad- 
dition to the work of the local teacher of 
the class. 

To the pupil taking this course either i*n 
a regular class or by correspondence we 
offer the following suggestions and urge 
upon the pupil to comply with each one as 
far as he is possibly able to do so. 

1. Secure a good dictionary of the Eng- 
lish language and use it. 

2. Secure a Bible dictionary and use it. 

3. Secure a Teacher's Bible, preferably 
an Oxford. 

4. Always study the lesson with note- 
book and pencil in hand to aid memory. 

5. Make abundant use of the Encyclope- 
dia in the back of your Oxford Bible., 

6. Study and learn to use maps in back 
of the Oxford Bible. 



54 HOW TO STUDY ANiD TEACH THE BIBLE. 
SUGGESTIONS ON THIS LESSON. 

1. Write out all the reasons given in this lesson why 
Bible study is valuable. 

2. Also write out additional reasons for such study. 




Chid showing how v/e jet our In^lish Bible 




Also showm^ superiority of the revised Yersion 



VL 

OUR ENGLISH BIBLE TO DATE. 

The accompanying chart illustrates very 
vividly how the Hebrew and Greek Scrip- 
tures came to be translated into the English 
language, and especially how the Revised 

Bible is a more reliable translation of the 
Greek Scriptures. The chart is intended 
to convey the information that the original 
manuscripts upon which the inspired au- 
thors wrote have all been lost long ago. This 
m.ay shock some people, but the same is true 
of all old books, and even of some recent 
books, for the authors usually have the 
original typewritten and then destroy the 
original; or at least when the book is 
printed, the manuscript is destroyed. So 
in the case of the Bible, the original manu- 
scripts were used until copies could be made 
and then they were discarded. To prove 
the correctness of a copy, our only recourse 
would be to compare one copy with anoth- 
er, and the more copies available the more 
we can be helped by comparing the manu- 

(57) 



58 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

scripts or text of copies. It is safe to infer 
that whatever reading is found in the most 
reliable manuscripts of copies, and in the 
largest numbers of such reliable copies the 
more we can arrive at the original reading 
of the text. 

The chart shows that no copies have been 
found that were written earlier than the 
second century, thus lea\ang a period of 
m.ore than a hundred years wdthout any 
copies. What is needed is that we shall be 
able to trace copy after copy since the first 
copies were made. We can trace copies of 
the New Testament only back to within 
two hundred years of the apostles, and that 
copy furnished the basis of a translation 
into Latin called the Old Latin Bible. Two 
centuries afterward Jerome translated the 
Vulgate from the Old Latin and the Hebrew 
copies of the Old Testament available. Then 
after many other partial translations into 
English, the entire Bible was finally trans- 
lated into English by Miles Coverdale in 
1534, but there was a partial translation 
previously made by Tindale that decided 
the stately style of English that is so im- 
pressive in the Authorized Bible, which was 
made in England 1611 under the royal pat- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 59 

ronage. All these translations had been 
made by comparing the few copies of the 
Old and the New Testament available at the 
time, but none of them went back to the 
time of the Apostles. In 1611 the vol^^mi- 
nous writings of the early Greek Fathers 
were not so well known as in recent years, 
when scholars discovered that these Fath- 
ers had quoted in their writings every verse 
in the New Testament but about a dozen, 
and their quotations would serve in the 
place of older manuscripts in part to enable 
us to arrive at the true reading of the Greek 
in the New Testament. Moreover, since 
1611 Bible scholars had come across more 
than fifteen hundred New Testament copies 
and also twenty-five hundred copies of the 
Hebrew Scriptures. Thus since the old 
Authorized Version was made both the new 
copies and the quotations of the Fathers 
would serve to correct the New Testament 
text. But in the case of the Old Testament, 
the same means of correcting the text was 
not available, for the Hebrew manuscripts in 
hand did not differ so widely in the matter 
of Hebrew vowel points which meant so 
much in determining the right word. In 
the Old Testament the reading largely de- 



60 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE, 

pended upon vowel points that had already 
been fixed several hundred years before, 
and the choice would lie between the Sep- 
tuagint and the Massoretic texts, and the 
translators preferred not to make many 
changes. 

On account of the fact that the Revised 
Edition is arranged in paragraphs rather 
than in verses, the people have been slow 
to substitute it for the Authorized, while 
no less authority than Harvard Universi- 
ty has thrown its influence to the Author- 
ized simply on account of its stately Eng- 
lish. We distinguish between the English 
and American Revision, the latter being 
more radical in its changes, and the Amer- 
ican Revision may now be secured in the 
usual verse form instead of the paragraphs. 
Whether we supplant the Authorized with 
the Revised or not, we should never under- 
take to interpret the Bible until we find out 
what the reading is in the Revised Version, 
for in some cases the Revised gives a dif- 
ferent im.pression of the sense altogether. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Reproduce the Eng-lish Bible Chart on paper. 

2. Explain the Chart. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 61 

3. How may we know of the correctness of our Eng- 
lish Bible? 

4. What is meant by manuscript, i. e., MS? 

5. V/hat is meant by the Septuagint, i. e., LXX? 

6. What is meant by the Hebrew Scriptures? 

7. What part of the Bible is called Greek Scriptures? 

8. What is meant by the Massoretic text? 

9. What is m.eant by the Vulgate? _ 



[Note. — The Hebrew has no vowels but only consonants 
and it is up to the reader to know what vov/els to insert 
to indicate a v^rord. After many hundred years certain 
eminent Hebrew scholars decided upon what vowel should 
be used in each word in the Hebrew Bible, and these 
scholars are called Massoretes, and the copy thus indi- 
cating the right Bible points we call the Massoretic text.] 



THE HOLY BIBLE. 



An Improved Edition, or the Relation of 
Translation to Interpretation, ., ^ 



Baptists were among the first to agitate 
for a new translation of the Bible, but the 
movement did not take definite shape until 
the great convention of Baptists at Sarato- 
ga, N. Y., in 1883. At that meeting definite 
action was taken to raise funds and appoint 
a committee to actually make a new trans- 
lation of the Bible that would be a truer 
rendering of the original. Baptists were 
not so anxious to make corrections in the 
texts of manuscripts, as they were to see 
to it that the manuscripts which were used 
in the Authorized Edition should be prop- 
erly translated. But the revisers were al- 
lowed to go over the whole Bible and com- 
pare the old manuscripts with those more 
recently discovered, and make such changes 
as necessary to bring out the full meaning. 
The translators finally completed their task, 

(63) 



64 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

and in 1913 the new translation was pub- 
lished under the name of The Holy Bible, 
An Improved Edition, and at once criticism 
was hurled at it on the ground that the 
translators were members of the Mission- 
ary Baptist Churches. But Baptists cer- 
tainly would not allow such criticism to 
cause us to refuse to avail ourselves of this 
great help in Bible interpretation. The pri- 
mary reason for the agitating of this new 
translation of the Bible was the mistransla- 
tion of certain passages in the interest of 
pedo-baptism. In the first place Baptists 
insisted that the Greek word "baptizo" 
should be translated in the Bible as it is 
usually translated elsewhere, i. e., to wash, 
to bathe, submerge or to put under the 
water. It is a notorious fact that the Au- 
thorized revisers refused to translate the 
Greek word at all, but they decided to make 
an English word of the Greek word as it 
stood, and so they translated the word bap- 
tize, because some Christians at that time 
sprinkled and poured. But Baptists in- 
sisted that it mattered not what the peo- 
ple did, it was the duty of the translators 
to be true to God and the word rather than 
to men. In this we are clearly right. But 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 65 

this Improved Edition has other merit be- 
sides its translation of the Greek word 
"baptizo/' and it will prove most helpful to 
use it along with our regular Bible to get 
a better idea of the meaning of words, 
clauses and sentences. 

Too much emphasis cannot be laid upon 
the use of the best translation, in fact, all 
available translations, in our effort to dis- 
cover the true meaning of the Bible. 

The translation is itself an interpretation, 
for unless the translator, like an interpret- 
er, gets the right meaning, how can he prop- 
erly translate ? For example, the Authorized 
. reading for Psalm 8 :5 is "For thou hast 
made him a little lower than the angels," 
while the Revised substitutes "gods" for an- 
gels, which is no doubt the true meaning, 
since the same word is translated angels in 
other places. Clearly the theology of the 
translators caused them to err in this case. 
Job 19 :26, is another case in point. The Au- 
thorized reads : "And though after my skin 
worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh, 
shall I see God." The Revised reads: 
"Without my flesh I shall see God." All de- 
pends on the point of view of the transla- 
tors. It thus becomes very important that 



66 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

the translation should be the truest pos- 
sible rendering of the original, and since 
Baptists place such emphasis on the 
meaning and authority of God's word, we 
should welcome both the Revised, and also 
the so-called Baptist Bible, which can be 
purchased through our Sunday School Pub- 
lishing Board, Nashville, Tennessee, and be- 
fore undertaking to interpret any passage, 
try to read the same in as many different 
versions as possible. In the case of the 
Old Testament more real help in interpre- 
tation will come from comparing the Sep- 
tuagint than from comparing the orig- 
inal Hebrew in many cases, simply because 
the reading in the Old Testament largely 
turns on the vowel points, and these in the 
Septuagint often radically differ from the 
Massoretic text, decided upon many hun- 
dreds of years afterward; and even the 
English translation of the Septuagint helps 
interpretation. An interpretation of the 
Scriptures must be free and not held down 
by custom, laws, and dignitaries. We should 
therefore expect the more reliable inter- 
pretation to come from Baptist scholarship. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Why did Baptists desire a new translation of the 
Bible? 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 67 

2. When and where was the revision decided upon ? 

3. In what year was the Revised Bible published? 

4. Who or what g-roup made the translation? 

5. What is the relation of translation to interpretation? 

6. What is the relation of interpretation to transla- 
tion? 

7. Does the Greek word "baptizo" ever mean to 
sprinkle or pour in the Bible ? 

8. What does baptizo mean? 

9. Then why was it not thus translated? 

10. What is the special advantag:e to us of the so-called 
Baptist Bible? 



VIII. 

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

The Old Testament Is Jewish. It is true 
that the writers of the Old Testament were 
wiser than they themselves knew, for by 
the help of Jesus we can find spiritual dia- 
monds where they discovered nothing of 
the kind. No argument for the inspiration 
of the Bible is stronger than the fact that 
the writers themselves did not always un- 
derstand what they themselves wrote. 

It is Jesus Christ who vitalizes the Old 
Testament and spiritualizes its teachings. 

The Old Testament Represents Moses' 
Teachings. No writer of the Old Testa- 
ment ever completely rises above Moses 
unless it be Jeremiah and the Psalms, but 
even these books bear the mark of Moses. 

The New Testament Represents Jesus' 
Teachings. Historically, the Old Testament 
is all right. But spiritually, it must be un- 

^ (69) 



70 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

derstood in the light of the New. Failure 
to recognize this fact is responsible for 
much error in interpretation. 



Diagram Showing Parallel Relations of Old 
and New Testaments. 



OLD TESTAMENT. 



NEW TESTAMENT. 



MOSES* TEACHING 

Negative. 
LAW 

OBEDIENCE 
SERVANT 
HOPE 

FOUNDED IN MORAL- 
ITY , j 

i : iM 
GOD A MASTER 
THE LETTER KILLETH 



NO ONE EVER SAVED BY 

O. T. 
JEWS' RELIGION 



jesus* teaching 

Positive. 

grace 
love 

SON 
FAITH 

FOUNDED IN A SPIRIT- 
UALITY THAT SHOWS 
ITSELF IN MORALITY 
GOD A FATHER 
THE SPIRIT MAKETH 
ALIVE 

SAVED ONLY BY NEW 
TESTAMENT 
CHRISTIAN RELIGION 



The Jews' Religion is what we study in 
the Old Testament, and we must make no 
mistake here. Because this is not under- 
stood, the matter of the correct Sabbath day 
observance for Christians is confusing to 
many. Christ said: "Ye have heard that 
it hath been said by them of old time,'' (re- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 71 

f erring to Moses.) "But I say unto you/' 
Matt. 5:33, 34. 

The Old Testament Points to Christ and 
its chief value is this fact. It was with this 
in mind that Jesus said: "Think not that I 
am come to destroy the law and the proph- 
ets; I am not come to destroy, but to ful- 
fill," Matt. 5:17. The law was intended to 
point the way to Christ, and after Christ 
came the law had thus fulfilled its function. 

We Are Saved by Grace, and not by law. 
"The law was given by Moses, but grace 
and truth came by Jesus Christ," Jno. 1:17. 
Therefore the Old Testament has never 
saved anyone. "There is none other name 
under heaven given among men, whereby 
we must be saved," Acts 4:12. 

Keeping the Law proved too low a stand- 
ard for Jesus, for we would only be keep- 
ing ourselves out of trouble. Under grace 
we are given the Spirit who leads us not 
only to keep the law, but we are also aiming 
to help others to keep out of trouble by 
serving them and giving them the proper 
example. 

The Door of Prophecy is what is meant 
by the door of Jno. 10:1. Christ is saying 
that he has a right to expect that his own 



72 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

people should find no difficulty in accepting 
him as Saviour since he came in the way 
the prophets predicted he would come. He 
lays great emphasis upon the fact that he 
came the way of the prophets, and that 
should point out to us the emphasis we 
should place upon Himi. Of course all of 
the Old Testament is prophecy because it 
was all written by prophets and represents 
their teaching. In I Peter 1:10-12 we are 
taught that, after all, the whole object of 
prophecy was to reveal Christ, and that it 
is to be interpreted in no other sense, and 
that we are not permitted to place the em- 
phasis on any other object but Jesus Christ ; 
and we are also taught that their writings 
were really not intended for their own gen- 
eration but for the people of our times. 
In 2 Peter 1 : 19-21 we are told that prophecy 
is more dependable for a revelation of the 
glory of Jesus than was afforded by the vis- 
ion of the Transfiguration. All of which 
means that we must make no mistake and 
apply prophecies too minutely to the times 
in which these writers lived, but everywhere 
and at all times we must find Jesus, for 
"Christ is all and in all,'' Col. 3:11. In study- 
ing the Old Testament we shall be bewil- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 73 

dered unless we "Let Jesus lead us all the 
way/' But in studying the Old Testament, 
if we govern ourselves by the New Testa- 
ment standards, we shall learn how to ap- 
preciate Jesus more than we ever would if 
we did not get the introduction of the proph- 
ets. Where Christ himself places the 
emphasis, we would do well to take heed. 
The Old Testament never had much spirit- 
ual value until interpreted by Jesus, and it 
is only true in proportion as it shows us 
Jesus. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Wlio interpreted God to man as mediator before 
Jesus came in the Old Testament times? 

2. Make a parallel of the teaching's of Moses and 
Jesus side by side? 

3. Why is the Old Testament called Jewish? 

4. What does it take to make the Old Testament 
Christian ? 

5. What is the chief benefit of the Old Testament? 

6. Is the Old Testament indispensable to a proper un- 
derstanding of the New? 

7. What is meant by the door of Prophecy? 

8. How is Christ "All and in all"? 

9. Explain the meaning of Transfiguration and quote 
the Scripture describing it? 

10. Hov/ may we be sure to be Jesus' help in interpret- 

ing the OM Testament? 
11. What part of the Bible is in a special sense Jesus' 
book ? 



IX 

SOURCES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, 

OR 

THE ORIGIN OF THE HEBREW 
SCRIPTURES. 

The Bible is the work of consecrated and 
inspired preachers who were called prophets 
in the Old and apostles in the New Testa- 
ment. These men excelled in moral char- 
acter and profound knowledge of God, and 
were the best educated men in the Jewish 
race in the Old, and the most spiritual men 
in the New Testament. The Old Testament 
books divided into the four groups of law, 
history, poetry, and prophecy, point the way 
the Bible came to us. It did not all come at 
once, and the inspired preachers came 
ahead of what we call the Bible, for God 
first spoke His words direatly to these 
preachers and later on through angels to 
the preachers. The way the Old Testament 
has been developed by groups can be ex- 
pressed by four words beginning with tlie 

(75) 



76 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

same letter and that letter S may stand for 
Sources of the Bible. 



s 



TATUTES 


— LAW 


— 5 


TORIES 


— HISTORY 


— 12 


ONGS 


— POETRY 


— 5 


ERMONS 


— PROPHECY 


— 16 

plus 1 



39 



From the beginning it was God's plan to 
send Jesus into the world to impart a right 
idea of God so as to enable men and women 
to conduct themselves as children of God. 
But before sending Jesus, the world had to 
be prepared to appreciate his coming. The 
revelation of Jesus to the prophets of old 
is the Cause of the Bible, for God moved 
them to produce this book as a means of 
preparing the world for Jesus. These won- 
derful preachers first gave the people the 
Law to teach duty to God and man, and they 
knew from the beginning that the Law did 
not fully meet the needs of the situation 
and later on these preachers gathered to- 
gether many stories of remarkable men 
and women that were samples of v/hat all 
men ought to be, and these Stories were 
woven into a connected History, for His- 
tory shows God's judgment upon the peo- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 77 

pie as a result of his laws, and beginning 
with David they employed History to teach 
of the coming and power of Jesus. Later 
on these preachers were impressed by God 
to compose Psalms that would speak of the 
coming and Spiritual work of Jesus so that 
the people could be put to thinking about 
Jesus, as the best method to spread the in- 
formation among the masses, and these 
Psalms brought out the real Spiritual na- 
ture of Christ, Finally, the best of certain 
noble preachers' sermons were gotten to- 
gether under Divine inspiration which 
showed the unselfish and social service they 
had rendered their people, and still further 
infor^med those who were sufficiently inter- 
ested in this part of the Bible of the de- 
tails of the coming of Christ. The preach- 
ers were selected by God to write these 
books because of their faith which showed 
itself in their lives. This was their object, 
viz., to teach of Jesus who should afterward 
come to the world. We should know this 
in order to know what to hunt for in Bible 
Study. 

Bible Is Both Human and Divine for it 
came from God through men, and in pro- 
portion as men refused to yield themselves 



78 HOW TO STUDY AND TEAGH THE BIBLE. 

in the Old Testament wholly to the influence 
of the Spirit, they failed to impart the cor- 
rect knowledge of God. Thus the Old Tes- 
tament does not give the whole and correct 
know^ledge of God because of the lack of 
deeper spirituality on the part of the proph- 
ets. They, nevertheless, were still ahead 
of aH the world in spirituality. It remained 
for Jesus, the most spiritual being ever on 
earth to prove himself "the faithful wit- 
ness'' as John styles him, and to be the first 
teacher that ever imparted absolutely cor- 
rect knowledge of God. This fact must be 
thoroughly understood in Bible Study. 

Authorship of Books of Bible is uncer- 
tain in most cases, nor do we really know 
how many persons wrote the Old Testa- 
ment, but the one thing we know is that the 
Bible is largely the work of the prophets, 
though certain portions that emphasize 
ceremonialism may have been written by 
priests. It is remarkable that men who 
v/rote such wonderful books as we have in 
the Old Testament did not indicate in un- 
mistakable terms their authorship. But 
these men evidently knew better than we do 
that the books represented God's work 
rather than their ov/n, and the imcertainty 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEAGH THE BIBLE.; 79, 

about human authorship only makes the 
divine authorship more sure, and serves 
as a strong argument of the inspiration of 
the Scriptures. . 

The Pentateuch Was the Original Bible, 
that is to say the five books of the Law con- 
stituted all the Bible the Jews had until af- 
ter the Captivity, a period of a thousand 
years, and it will be found that all subse- 
quent revelation is wrapped up in the Law 
for future uncovering, but it required a 
deeper spirituality and a more extended ex- 
perience to interpret. Therefore the oth- 
er books were added gradually as an inter- 
pretation of the first five books. Therefore 
the Law is understood better in the light 
of the History, and this interpretation is 
extended to the masses through the songs 
of the Poetical books, and all these three 
groups are interpreted in the Prophetical 
books. Thus the Bible interprets itself, 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Group the Old Testament books in the old way, giv- 
ing* number of books in each group. 

2. Name and v/rite down the books in each group. 

3. What four words are sugg-ested in this lesson as 
the names of the four groups? 

4. Why are these particular words used? 

5. State the purpose of each and alli of the groups. 

6. Hov7 is the B'*ble human and divine? 



80 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

7. What about the authorship of these books? 

8. How long were the Five Books of the Law the 
Jews' only Bible? 

9. What is meant by Pentateuch? 

10. What is the relation of the Pentateuch and the 
other Old Testament books? 




PURPOSE OF THE BIBLE. 

The Origin of the Bible Reveals Its Pur- 
pose in Part. We have seen the purpose to 
be to reveal Jesus, and now we shall see that 
the prophets made an effort to train the 
people to live righteous lives. Without 
doubt the Jews are the best trained people 
on earth in self-control and moral charac- 
ter, and the Bible, i. e., the Old Testament, 
was the means employed by their leaders 
to develop this high moral power in that 
race. 

The Bible Is God's Training Book, and 

this is shown by the way its books are 
grouped, for the groups together represent 
a method of training, and each group stands 
for a stage of development. Four words 
beginning with the same letter "P'' repre- 
sent the four groups, and the same "P" 
stands for the Purpose. 

(81) 
Sig.- 



82 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

Old Testament New Testament 

LAW PRECEPTS GOSPEL 

HISTORY PRACTICE ACTS 

POETRY PIETY EPISTLES 

PROPHECY PROPHECY REVELATION 

When the Jewish race was in its infancy 
the Law was given in the Old Testament, as 
Precepts, and then later on the History 
shows the efforts of the people to put in- 
to Practice the Precepts; and as a result 
the people began to develop Piety; and as 
they improved in living eventually they 
took an interest in the Messianic Message 
of Prophecy. What is required to train a 
race is also necessary to train an individual. 
The characters of the Bible are in a meas- 
ure the result of Bible training, and what 
it has done for others it will do for us. 

Keep the Purpose in View in all study of 
the Bible, and do not expect of the Bible 
anything but what it was written to teach. 
Let no incident nor language obscure this 
purpose, but let us always expect a message 
in Bible study that will help us to his-her 
living. In fact, it matters not how difficult 
or how apparently easy a passao'e appears, 
the rie:ht understanding* is not found until 
we discover something to help us to live 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 83 

better lives. The Bible is the Book of Life 
to show us how to live. 

Personal Training in morality is the great 
need of many church members. All of us 
did not receive good training as children. 
The Bible is calculated to overcome the lack 
of home training in a large measure, if we 
will only yield ourselves unreservedly to 

its influence and study to learn how to live. 
It is impossible to study the Bible properly 
and persistently without having a great 
transformation wrought in our personal 
lives. 

The Training of the Race. The Old 
Testament is a race book with a wonderful 
history of achievements behind it. The Old 
Testament is a record of social service and 
a program of race uplift. This is a most 
fortunate providence for our own race 
group here, because we suffer so much for 
lack of the very knowledge the Bible is in- 
tended to supply, especially the Old Testa- 
m.ent. It is nothing less than the hand of 
God in history that the Jewish people were 
in so many respects similar to our own race 
group, for when we would be discouraged 
at times, we can find in the Bible those races 



84 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

and people who had similar experiences, 
and yet as Samson intimated : 

**0.ut of the eater came forth ttieat, and 
Out of the strong came forth sweetness*' 

or in other words, the very obstacles proved 
our stepping-stones. To say nothing of its 
incomparable spiritual value, the Old Testa- 
ment is a most helpful study in sociology. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Group Old and New Testament books around the 
four words given in the lesson. 

2. What does such grouping suggest? 

3. What is the general purpose of the Bible? 

4. How can the Bible train an individual? 

5. How can it train a race group? 

6. In what respect were the Jews well trained? 

7. What is the relation of morality to spirituality? 

8. Who "wrote the Bible as in last lesson? 

9. Interpret briefly Samson's riddle. 

10. Note points of resemblance between the Jews and 
the Ne^o people. 



XI. 

THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE BIBLE. 
The Old Testament World. 

The Old Testament World embraced the 
territory included in a part of Western 
Asia and Northern Africa, and was bounded 
on the northeast by the Caspian Sea, on the 
southeast by the Persian Gulf, on the south- 
west by the Nile River, and on the north- 
west by the Black Sea. A line drawn con- 
necting these four bodies of water would 
enclose a territory about one thousand 
miles long and about fifteen hundred miles 
wide. 

Mountains and Rivers are of much sig- 
nificance in Bible History, and are to be 
thought of together, for mountains give 
rise to rivers and valleys. This Old Testa- 
ment world was bounded on the east by 
Zagros Mountains, on the northeast by the 

(85) 



86 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

Caspian range, on the north by Armenian 
Mountains, on the northwest by the Taurus 
Mountains, and west by Lebanon Moun- 
tains, thus giving rise to the Euphrates 
and Tigris rivers and their valleys, and the 
Jordan river and valley, while the moun- 
tains of unexplored Africa produced the 
Nile and its valley. The easy mode of com- 
munication afforded by rivers, and the fer- 
tility and fruitfulness of valleys made pos- 
sible the cradle of civilization, and Baby- 
lon in the Euphrates valley vies with Egypt 
in the Nile valley for antiquity. The Jews 
suffered at the hands of these valley na- 
tions from whom God delivered them by em- 
igration, and they finally shunned the 
valley and took to the mountain country 
where they would not come in contact with 
these worldly nations. In Palestine, or 
Canaan, as it was called at that remote age, 
the Jews never lived in the valley of the 
Jordan, nor in the plain of Esdraelon, nor 
on the coast of the Great Sea ; but in the 
mountains of Judea and Samaria and Gali- 
lee, as these sections were afterward called. 
The Land of Canaan, or as we call the 
country now Palestine, was the center of 
the Old Testament world, for it stood mid- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 87 

way between the powerful nations of Egypt 
on the Nile, and Assyria and Babylonia in 
the Tigro-Euphrates valley, and through 
the low lying disti'icts of Esdraelon and the 
Sharon and Philistine plains the armies 
marched to join battle against each other. 
Canaan was Phoenicia extended, and the 
Canaanites were the Phoenicians according 
to no less authority than Stanley's Jewish 
Church. Canaan proper, was west of the 
Jordan, while the east was Gilead, where 
the Jews never lived extensively. The Jews 
may be thought of as a hardy race of moun- 
taineers with the usual rugged character 
greatly intensified. 

The Hebrew was an immigrant into Ca- 
naan and for this reason was called a He- 
brew. Canaan at that remote age was 
settled by a civilized race divided up into 
clans, but very degenerate and cursed, as 
God saw them, and the curse has annihilated 
the race almost completely. In the plain 
of Esdraelon the Jews finally subdued these 
people and built up a fortress at Megiddo 
to protect themselves against the nations 
in this same plain, and Armageddon in 
Revelation is only a modification of the 
word Megiddo. 



88 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

The Seasons in this country are four as 
ours; but there is a dry season for six 
months, and a six months rainy season. The 
Jordan valley being below the level of the 
sea is unusually warm at all seasons, and 
therefore abounds in tropical fruits and 
foliage, and thus was so inviting to other 
nations that the Jews did not care to live 
there. They lived in the hills and moun- 
tains at great sacrifice for the sake of 
principle and God, but the Syrian Lot lived 
in the valley for gain, and lost the spiritual 
advantage of segregation. The Jews large- 
ly relied upon the shepherd life, divinely in- 
tended to teach the race to help others. 

The New Testament World. 

The New Testament World included the 
Old, but Southern Europe comes into promi- 
nence, and the white race is brought with- 
in the influence of the Bible in the study 
of which they were destined to excel the 
Jews and to champion the religion of Jesus. 
In the Old Testament there is absolutely no 
trace of the white race, but only of the 
Jews, and Semites, and Ethiopians, i. e., 
Negroes. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 89 

Palestine in the Time of Christ claims at- 
tention largely on account of the political 
geography, for the Roman empire included 
within its boundary the land of the Jews, 
though Romans allowed descendants of Ja- 
cob's brother Esau, that is the Edomites or 
Idumeans, to immediately govern the Jews 
under the dynasty of the Herods; and Pales- 
tine was divided into Judea in the south, 
Galilee in the north, Samaria between these, 
and Perea and Decapolis east of the Jor- 
dan. Herod the Great's sons divided the 
rule of the provinces among themselves, but 
Archaelaus of Judea was such a misfit that 
Rome appointed governors for it directly, 
such as Pontius Pilate, a non-Jew, perhaps 
a white man. 

The Mastery of Bible Geography is a 
great help to general Bible mastery, and 
the maps ought to be in constant use to en- 
able one to employ the faculty of sight and 
location in his study. Whenever a place is 
mentioned it should be at once located on 
the map and afterwards associated with the 
event on paper so that to think of one will 
recall the other. No method can excel this 
in the study of the Patriarchs as well as the 
life of Christ. 



90 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

The Jewish people are closely allied to 
the Syrians, while their most ancient his- 
tory is closely related to Babylon and Chal- 
dea, because Abraham came from the latter 
country. One of the phenomena of history 
is the very slight influence Egypt wielded 
over the Jews, although several centuries 
were passed by them in Egypt as slaves. 
They were called Hebrews when they first 
immigrated into Canaan, or just about the 
entire time of their nomad life, or up to 
the time of Jacob. Then they began to be 
called Israelites until the Captivity, and 
were called Jews from the Return to the 
present. Abraham was the Hebrew media- 
tor. Moses the Israelite m.ediator, and 
rather than accept Jesus as Mediator in 
these days the Jews still follow Moses. The 
Hebrew people spoke Hebrew which is close- 
ly allied to Phoenician, and hence the Ca- 
naanites and Hebrew^s spoke the same lan- 
guage, except the Hebrew was a kind of 
Yiddish of the Phoenician. The Canaanites 
were highly civilized, but immoral and un- 
spiritual, and their degeneracy could not 
stand before the stern morality of the hardy 
Hebrews who lived in their midst, or rath- 
er seeres'ated in a part of Canaan. Event- 
ually, the Hebrews took over the entire land 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 91 

after a long series of campaigns running 
through many hundred years, but after sev- 
eral centuries their own unspirituality de- 
stroyed their morality, and a foreign nation 
carried the best element of the people in- 
to Captivity in Assyria and Babylonia. They 
in large measure returned after three quar- 
ters of a century, and later re-established 
their own independence under the Macca- 
bean dynasty. But after a century or 
more, in the year 63 B. C, Jerusalem was 
captured by Romans, and in 70 A. D., 
was utterly destroyed, and from that 
time on the Jews have been scattered over 
the face of the earth. 

QUESTIONS AND HAND WORK. 

1. Make a map of the Old Testament World and New 
Testament combined. 

2. Name mountains and rivers. 

3. Bound Palestine. 

4. Where did Jews prefer to live and why? 

5. What race is the same as Canaan? 

6. Name three plains spoken of in the lesson as "low- 
lying* districts." 

7. What ancient race was closest kin to the Jews? 

8. From what fort and where is the word Armaged- 
don formed? 

9. What race of people wrote the Old Testament? 
10. Is white man or Negro's influence connected with 

either the Old or New Testaments? 



XII. 

HOW TO STUDY THE BOOK 

OR 

BIBLE MASTERY. 

Bible mastery in a spiritual sense will re- 
quire the rest of our lives, but it is entirely 
possible to make ourselves masters of the 
history of the Bible, and when the narra- 
tive, i. e., the history, is mastered we are 
in a position to understand the deep spirit- 
ual teachings as never before. 

The Bible a Story. The Old Testament 
and the New Testament are founded upon 
history and biography. The Old Testament 
is the history of God's dealing with the 
world first, and then with the Jewish race. 
The New Testament is the biography of 
Jesus, his teaching, his work, and his dis- 
ciples' appreciation of him. The study of 
the Old Testament can be diagramed as 
follows : 

(93) 



94 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 




This tliagram shows that the first seven- 
teen books of the Old Testament show how 
the Jews rose to be a great people, but also 
how they afterward gradually declined. 
The Poetical books show the state of reli- 
gious sentiment among that people when the 
natioiTi was at its best, and the Poetical 
books thus represent the best phase of the 
Jews' religion. They afterward went down 
as a people, and the study of the Prophets 
show the inner causes of the decline. This 
part of the Bible must be mastered thor- 
oughly if we would lay a proper founda- 
tion for dependable interpretation. 

The Help of a Competent Teacher Is 
Needed to guide us in our study of the Bible, 
but no teacher can help us unless he is first 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 95 

of all an earnest believer in Jesus, and his 
word. Jesus is our best teacher, and next 
to him is the teacher with his Spirit. The 
Psalmist exclaims: "I have more under- 
standing than all my teachers because I 
keep thy commandments," and he was right. 
So few of us will be able to secure suitable 
teachers to instruct in God^s word, that we 
must make wise use of the many books 
that have been written by Bible students to 
guide others to the light. 

Good Books as Teachers and Guides in 
our study of the Bible will be found very 
helpful if we make proper use of them, and 
select the right books. It is the Grace of 
God that makes it possible for us to get the 
benefit of all the Biblical scholarship of 
thousands of consecrated men and women 
who devoted their lives to a spiritual study 
of God's word, who themselves pirofited by 
those who lived ahead of them, and who 
have bequeathed to us the results of theii' 
profound knowledge. If each one of us had 
to go over for himself all the ground covered 
by past Biblical experts, we should die be- 
fore we learned more than the rudiments of 
the Bible. The books that will help us most 
are not so-called commentaries, but the 



96 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

books calculated to give us the greatest help 
are small handbooks that are sometimes 
called Jewish History, or Story of the Bible, 
or Old Testament History, or The Jewish 
Church, or Bible History, Bible or Old Testa- 
ment Narrative. It is not best to name the 
authors in this place, but at the close of Part 
I a list of such books will be given. All of 
these books are simply stating in another 
way what is found in the first seventeen 
books of the Old Testament with side lights 
from the Poets and Prophets. 

How to Use these Bible Help Books. They 
are intended to help the reader study the 
Bible, and no book of the kind should be 
used unless reference is constantly made to 
the very passage in the Bible that the au- 
thor refers to, and the way to wisely use 
such a book is to turn immediately to such 
a passage upon reading it and see whether 
we can discover any such meaning, and do 
not be too quick to criticize the book, but 
study the passage patiently in the light of 
all available help, and make sure the au- 
thor is not right. These books are not to 
be simply read, but they are to be studied 
patiently. Indeed, the book should take 
the place of a teacher to us, and we are not 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 97 

to substitute it for the Bible, but we must 
let it help us by using it as indicated here. 
In the New Testament a small handbook 
on the life of Christ, if properly written, 
and a book on the early Christian church, 
or life of Paul, will greatly help us if prop- 
erly written, and we are to remember that 
such books are never properly written un- 
less they point out to us the exact passages 
that are interpreted and explained in the 
book. A commentary makes us weaklings, 
and dependent upon other folks' views. 
Jesus never intended for us to cite other 
people's opinions on religious matters, but 
he wishes us all to go to the source of all 
truth, and be able to "bring forth things 
new and old," and learn to trust our own 
judgment, but only because we give our- 
selves up to thorough and deep spiritual 
study of the word itself, and not other 
folks' opinion of the word. But care must 
be taken never to be captivated with the 
book as a teacher more than the Bible and 
Jesus. A good plan would be to accept no 
teaching as Biblical unless one by hard 
study satisfies himself it represents the 
teaching of the Bible. In some quarters in 
certain centers there is a tendency to make 



08 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

light of the Bible as the revealed word of 
God, but God's word will continue to shape 
the lives of men and destinies of nations 
when scoffers will be forgotten. We need 
full confidence in the Bible, and we couid 
do the Lord's w^ork better if we consulted 
his word and learned more about how^ he 
wishes us to do it. 

The Order of the Storj^ in the Books. The 
story of the Jews runs from Genesis to Exo- 
dus, then to Leviticus 8 to 10 chapters 
(all the rest of Leviticus contains law" and 
not history), then to Numbers, and Deut- 
eronomy. We see that the order of the first 
five books is also the order of the story. 

Key Words of the Pentateuch. 

GENESIS— The Origin and Early History of the He- 
brews. 

EXODUS— The Race Problem in Egypt and Its Solu- 
tion. 

LEVITICUS^ — The Tabernacle Service and Ceremonies. 

NUMBERS— The Wilderness Wandering. 

DEUTERONOMY— The More Spiritual Conception of 
the Law. 

But that is not true of the next tw^elve 
books of history, for the order corresponds 
to the numbers below: 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 99 

1. JOSHUA — Conquest and Possession of Canaan. 

2. JUDGES— Commonwealth or the Theocracy. 
4. RUTH— David's Family History. 

3. I SAMUEL— Eli, Samuel), Saul, David. \ 

[i Chronicles. 
6. II SAMUEL— David as Kin^, ) 

6. I KINGS— Solomon and Divided Kdn^- . 

dom. I 2 Chronicles. 

7. II KINGS— Divided Kingdom. J 

8. EZRA— Rebuilding the Temple. 

10. NEHEMIAH— Rebuilding the City of Jerusalem. 

9. ESTHER— Divine Deliverance of Jews. 

If these books are read in the order as 
numbered they will reveal the story of the 
Jews in its order. The Poetical books might 
be read in the order as printed. 

Study the Bible as a Whole in order that 
we may better understand its parts. If we 
study by parts without a knowledge of the 
whole, at least a general idea of the whole, 
we are liable to make awful blunders in in- 
terpretation, and such study often does 
harm because it upsets our minds and our 
work. A person who has the idea of the 
general plan that runs through the Bible 
can see how a part is related to another part 
and to the whole, and he alone gets the full 
benefit of Bible study. The following eight 
words will help us to keep in mind the re- 



100 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

lation of the part to the whole, and will en- 
able us to think through the Bible. 
Diagram of Unity of Bible. 

Eight words may fitly represent the unity 
of the Bible and the thought that runs 
throughout the whole book, as follows: 



REVELATION 


LAW 


8 


PREPARATION 


HISTORY 


12 


ASPIRATION 


POETRY 


5 


EXPECTATION 


PROPHECY 


17 


MANIFESTATION 


GOSPELS 


4 


ORGANIZATION 


ACTS 


1 


REALIZATION 


EPISTLES 


21 


CULMINATION 


REVELATION 


1 



66 

The idea is this : God gave a Revelation of 
himself away back from the beginning that 
was perfect, but men could not understand 
it, but they did understand more of God 
through the experience of history which 
proved a Preparation to help them under- 
stand this revelation, and led to higher As- 
piration. When they began to look up- 
ward to God he e'ave them the great hope 
or Expectation of Jesus. Then in the course 
of time there was the Manifestation amone: 
men, and after his ascension his apostles 
took up the work of the Organization of 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 101 

the churches. When these were organized, 
the people then began to have a Realiza- 
tion of the power of Jesus' teachings, and 
Revelation shows what the end will be, the 
triumph of the Kingdom. It would be well 
to drill ourselves in these eight words and 
what they signify, for they help us to 
think through the Bible, and nothing is a 
greater help to the interpretation, for the 
Spirit will dwell in those whose minds are 
stayed upon his word. Get the idea that 
runs through the book and thus understand 
God's purpose in giving us this revelation, 
and then keep in mind the purpose, and try 
to get the help that God gives us to enable 
us to live right and serve God through the 
teachings of Jesus. 

QUESTIONS AND HAND WORK. 

1. How may the Bible be mastered historically? 

2. Make dia^am illustrating a method of Bible study 
leading to mastery. 

3. What class of books will help? 

4. How should these books be used? 

5. Why is it necessary to learn order of books? 

6. How does the order help to interpretation? 

7. Name eight words bringing out the fact that it is 
one story only tha/t runs in the Old and New Testa- 
ments ? 

8. Name the words that give the key to each of the 
first seventeen books in the Old Testament. 

9. Make a statement showing the relation of one of 
these word'3 to the other in the Biblie narrative. 

10. How do I and II Chronicles stand related to what 
books and how? 



XIIL 

THE HIGHER CRITICISM, THE LOWER 
CRITICISM, AND INTERPRETATION. 

A Teacher Training book should impart 
some information as to the nature of the 
higher criticism, and to show up this in- 
formation to the best advantage it is de- 
sirable to consider at the same time the 
lower criticism, and also to differentiate 
both from just plain Interpretation. It will 
also be more helpful to first define the low- 
er criticism for the aid it will give in un- 
derstanding the higher. 

I. The Lower Criticism is illustrated in 
the fact that the authors of the Revised 
Version warn us of the last verses of Mark 
as lacking authenticity on the ground that 
those verses are not found in the best manu- 
scripts. It is also illustrated in the first 
eleven verses of John 8, where we are told 
by the translators that that passage is not 
found in the same reading in the best m^nu- 

•(103) 



104 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

scripts. In fact, the whole idea of the Re- 
vised Version involves the question of the 
lower criticism, but it was put up to the 
revisers and not to the readers. Lower 
criticism is a testing of the authenticity of 
any passage in a given book in the Bible by 
the evidence of collateral readings in oth- 
er manuscripts. It only affects inter- 
pretation by warning us that we have no 
right to cite these doubtful passages in 
proof of other Scriptures. Those who ac- 
cept the Revised Version also accept along 
with it the lower criticism, for if the low- 
er criticism is not accepted then we should 
not approve the Revised idea which is so 
universally accepted today. 

XL The Higher Criticism is testing the 
authenticity not of parts of a book in the 
Bible, but is rather the testing of the au- 
thenticity of an entire book, and the entire 
subject matter of such book. For instance, 
it is claimed that Moses did not write the 
first five books in the Old Testament at all, 
but that the present books are made up 
of two parallel accounts covering pretty 
much the same ground, one written by an 
author of the tril3e of Judah and the other 
belori^ng to the tribe of Ephraim, and the 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 105 

former portions are assembled under the 
designation "J" and the latter under "E". 
It is also claimed that later on an author 
of prophetic inclinations merged the form- 
er two documents into one whole, and the 
three documents thus assembled are desig- 
nated "D". Finally, it is the claim of high- 
er criticism that about the time of Ezekiel 
an author of priestly inclinations merged 
his own writings with the three former 
documents, and the assembled documents 
are designated "P". Then the claim is 
made that the Pentateuch is made up out 
of four independent writings merged into 
one, and that the only proper way to arrive 
at the true teaching of the Bible is to sepa- 
rate these four documents, and then make 
a choice of the document which the inter- 
preter should decide is the original and most 
authentic. It should be said that the pe- 
culiarities of Hebrew language in the 
different parts of the Pentateuch first at- 
tracted the attention of scholars, for in re- 
producing from another author or document 
it is noticeable that the exact words of such 
document are quoted, and thus the language 
gives an idea o fthe time that portion was 
written. Moreover, hieher criticism claims 



106 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

that certain anachronisms appear showing 
the books were written after Moses' death, 
e.g., Gen. 13:7. " And the Canaanite and 
the Perizzite dwelled there in the land" al- 
though if Moses wrote it in his lifetime, 
the Canaanite and the Perizzite were still 
in the land. The higher criticism places 
the complete Pentateuch many hundred 
years after Canaan had been conquered by 
the Hebrews. The higher criticism teaches 
that in its present shape it is impossible to 
properly understand or interpret the Bible, 
but that the entire subject matter of the 
entire Bible needs to be rearranged, and 
the authentic portions separated into a 
separate and a distinct book, which should 
constitute the real Bible of intelligent 
Christians; and Prof. Kent of Yale has al- 
ready worked out a portion of such a book 
of the proposed new Bible under the title 
of "The Historical Bible." This is the 
meaning of the talk in certain quarters that 
the entire Bible should again be revised and 
shortened and made more practical and up- 
to-date. Of course, higher criticism af- 
fects interpretation if any disputed passage 
or incident is cited as evidence, and since 
higher criticism is so radical and far- 
reaching, it is calculated to confuse and les- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 107 

sen the authority and help of God's word. 

III. Just Plain Interpretation must not 
be confounded with either higher or lower 
criticism. It should go without saying that 
we do not accept the platform of the higher 
criticism for it would utterly undermine 
that respect for and confidence in God's 
word so necessary to secure its careful 
study by Christian people. Moreover, even 
if we should accept the fourfold author- 
ship of the Pentateuch, that would not serve 
to show that it is not of divine origin; but 
on the other hand the inspiration would 
be the better established on account of its 
remarkable unity along with its remarkable 
diversity. 

Nor would such fourfold authorship in- 
validate it in the least, unless we rely more 
upon the infallibility of the higher criti- 
cism than that of the Holy Ghost. That, 
after all, is the proposition we are up 
against here, whether we accept the form- 
er rather than the latter: for we have every 
reason to believe the separate docu- 
ments of the Bible, whether whole books or 
any parts of books, have been written and 
assembled under the guidance of the Holy 
Spirit. Why should the higher criticism 
dare to put its dictum ahead of God ? 



108 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

It should be said, however, that every 
thorough student of God's word should be 
thoroughly acquainted with the higher 
criticism, for the highest interests of Chris- 
tianity can never be promoted by ignorance 
of anything that is connected with the study 
of God's word. But we need to be warned 
at the beginning that such study should 
come after long experience and extended 
investigation, for unless the heart is fixed, 
the subtility of some unspiritual exponents 
of the higher criticism may undermine the 
believer's faith. 

It needs to be stated that simply because 
an interpreter finds a meaning in a pas- 
sage which seems entirely new to old stu- 
dents of the word, that should not cause the 
interpreter to be branded a higher critic. 
It all depends upon whether the proof is 
found in other passages of our Bible, or 
whether other passages must be utterly 
ignored to prove the interpretation. For 
instance, in Joshua 10:13, we read the sig- 
nificant words: "Is it not so written in the 
book of Jasher" ? which means that verse is 
a quotation from the book of Jasher, which 
of course must have been written before 
our book of Joshua. Now turn to II Sam. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 109 

1:18, and we see this same book of Jasher 
quoted to prove that David wrote a ballad 
in memory of Saul, and of course Jasher 
must have been written before II Samuel 
was written. Now then if Jasher is quoted 
in both Joshua and II Samuel, then both of 
these books must have been written after 
the book of Jasher, which shows that our 
book of Joshua was written as late as Solo- 
mon at least, and Joshua is closely related 
to the Pentateuch, being a part of the Hexa- 
teuch. Now, what I have just written is 
not higher criticism nor lower criticism, 
but just plain interpretation, for this should 
be known in order to proper interpretation. 
There are many such illustrations that 
might be given, but space forbids. But suf- 
fice it to say that unless a whole book's au- 
thenticity is doubted and science is placed 
ahead of Spirit, there is no higher criti- 
cism. In the New Testament higher criti- 
cism concerns itself with verifying the say- 
ings and works of Christ related in the Gos- 
pels, and before interpreting any passage 
the question is first raised as to whether 
Christ really said it or did it, and a majori- 
ty of his words and works are reported as 
not authentic; but higher criticism no- 
where raised any question as to the authori- 



110 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

ty and deity of Christ. Even Prof. Briggs, 
who was excommunicated by the Presby- 
terians, accepted the Virgin Birth of our 
Lord with deep reverence and faith. Let 
us beware not to hide ignorance of the Bible 
behind a narrow partisan spirit. But we 
should and do accept the word of God 
as fully inspired and suited to meet the 
needs of the disciples of Christ. 

But not every person knows the Bible 
who sets himself up as an interpreter and 
teacher. It is surprising how much is hid 
away in the Bible that even the best of Bibli- 
cists fail to notice. Until one is a master 
of details in Bible study his interpretation 
is on that account less reliable, for we in- 
cline to stigmatize others as belonging to 
an unorthodox class sometimes simply be- 
cause we do not take the time to thorough- 
ly post ourselves on what the Bible really 
says. 

bo not forget to read Matt. 13:52, "There- 
fore every scribe which is instructed unto 
the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man 
that is an householder, which bringeth forth 
out of his treasure things new and old." 

We deem that such a chapter as this is 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. Ill 

really necessary in a Teacher Training book 
in view of the widespread discussion of 
the higher criticism. 





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THE INTERPRETATION OF THE 

BIBLE. 

The Right Bible Text is very essentiaL 
A Bible without references makes inter- 
pretation especially difficulto The refer- 
ences express the opinion of Bible scholars 
of all the past as to the best scriptnres to 
explain a certain passage. If we had to 
find the passage in each case ourselves, we 
should learn but little in a lifetime. But 
the references bring lis the advantage and 
results of other scholars' work and are ex- 
ceedingly helpful, 

The^Eight Translation of the Bible to 
use is the Revised Version, for it evidently 
comes nearest to the meaning of the He- 
brew and Greek of the original. The fact 
is that the translation is itself an interpreta- 
tion of the Bible, for the translator ex- 
presses his understanding of the meaning, 
and if he makes a mistake it becomies very 
difficult to interpret the Bible. 

Sig.— 5 

(113) 



114 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

Suitable Reference Books such as a Bible 
dictionary, a concordance, at least five dif- 
ferent maps representing Bible lands at dif- 
ferent times and a revised Bible, are abso- 
lutely necessary. In fact, it would be a good 
plan for the school to put such books in its 
library for use of advanced pupils and 
teachers. The dictionary should be used 
to find the meaning of the words, such as 
cannot be found in an ordinary English dic- 
tionary, which should also always be at 
hand. When the name represents a place 
we should also locate the place on the map, 
and in studying the movements of per- 
sons and peoples, we should by all means 
trace the journey or locate the place on the 
map, and in a teacher's Bible, a system of 
locating such places is m.ade easier. The 
concordance will help us to find other pas- 
sages bearing on the person or place or 
teaching. If we learn to use these books 
and then actually take time and use themi, 
great help will be afforded us. 

History of the Canon. By the Canon we 
mean the books that are found in our ordi- 
nary Bible. Som.e larger Bibles have four- 
teen other books in the Old Testament not 
.found in an ordinarv Bible and these are 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 115 

called the Apocrypha to distinguish them 
from the Canon. The Apocrypha of the 
New Testament cons.ists of certain books 
that some churches used to consider in- 
spired, but these books are not found in any 
of our New Testaments. By the Canon, 
we mean the inspired books of the Bible, 
We should try to learn the order in which 
these books were made a part of the Bible* 

Bible Is a Progressive Revelation and the 

historical order is a clue to the interpreta- 
tion. For instance, in II Sam. 24:1, we are 
taught that God caused David to sin in 
numbering Israel. But in I Chron. 21:1, 
we are taught it was Satan that caused 
David thus to sin. Here the history helps 
by showing that I Chronicles was written 
long after II Samuel and I Chronicles was 
intended as an interpretation of II Samuel 
and I Samuel. There are numerous other 
instances of the kind. 

New Testament Interprets the Old, and 
the Old throws light on the New, but the 
New Testament is the final interpretation of 
the Old. In fact, it is not helpful to study 
the Old Testament unless we are guided by 
the New Testament which represents Jesus^ 



IIG HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE, 

teaching. If we cannot find anything in 
the New, then go on reading and studying, 
and one day you will find something in the 
New that will bring the needed light. 

Jesus Is the Interpretation of the Bible. 
We must look for Christ in each book, or 
else for something that represents his teach- 
ing or his work. Keep our minds upon 
Jesus. "Christ is all and in all/' Col. 3:11. 
The Old Testament makes no sense unless 
interpreted in the light of Jesus. And 
whatever appears to be the interpretation 
of Jesus, accept it at once, even if you can 
not harmonize it with the account or let- 
ter of the Old Testament. We cannot find 
in the Old Testament anything to lead us to 
such an interpretation of Jonah as Christ 
gave, but his word is final anyway. 

We Need a Personal Knowledge of Jesiss 

that will enable us to understand his spirit, 
for the spirit will help us to understand the 
meaning through our feeling, even if our 
intellect fails to get the meaning. One 
should always study the Bible under some 
one's guidance. "Let Jesus lead you al! the 
way.'' Jesus will lead us if we are led by 
the New Testament v/hich represents his 
teachinofs. If Jesus thus leads the tea..chers, 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 117 

then through the teachers, Jesus will kad 
the pupils in the study. 

Other Books Help to interpretation safe- 
ly only in proportion as they cause us to 
master the books of the Bible, and get clos- 
er insight into what the Bible really says, 
as has already been shown. Most mistakes 
in interpretation grow out of a wrong idea 
of what the Bible actually says, and such 
books as re-state the Bible narrative are 
of great value if we prove every statement 
by finding the place in the Bible. The prop- 
er way to use such books, as for instance, a 
story of the Bible, which is the same as 
Bible History, or History of Jewish Church, 
is to keep a Bible at our side all the time. 
Finally, we can not be depended upon 
to interpret the Bible unless v/e are 
morally earnest, and apply our knowl- 
edge to our own needs, and seek to live 
an upright, clean life. God will not al- 
low us to hold the truth in unrighteousness. 
"But unto them that are without, all these 
things are done in parables: that seeing, 
they may see and not perceive: and hear- 
ing, they may hear and not understand; 
lest at anv time they should be converted." 
Mark 4:12. That is to say, they are not 



118 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

honest enough to follow the logical conclu- 
sion of the truth. Indeed, one reveals his 
own spiritual state by the interpretation he 
gives the word, and we cannot be relied up- 
on to explain the word unless we are earn- 
estly trying to follow in the footsteps of 
Jesus all the way. "If any man will do his 
will, he shall know of the doctrine," Jno. 
7:17, says Jesus. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. "^Tiat is the first requisite to interpretation? 

2. What version is recommended and why? 
3. What reference books are essential? 

4. What is meant by Canon? 

5. What is the Apocrypha? 

6. What is meant by the Bible being a progressive 
revelation ? 

7. How do we interpret the Old and Nev/ Testament 
each? 

8. How is Jesus the one interpretation of the Bible? 

9. How does the order of the books in the Bible affect 
interpretation ? 

10. What as the best help to interpretation? 



XV. 

HISTORICAL STUDY OF OLD TESTA- 
MENT, 
OR 
BIBLE HISTORY. 

The Seven Periods of Jewish History. 

The history of the Jewish race, or indeed 
of the other races, is simply the biographies 
of a few able leaders who enacted the 
deeds and established the epochs that begin 
periods of history. In the case of the Jew- 
ish race the great epoch-makers were: 

ADAM, 

ABRAHAM, 

MOSES, 

SOLOMON, 

NEBUCHADNEZZAR, 

EZRA, 

JESUS, 

One would hardly make a selection of all 
these names, but these are the names that 
the Bible selects as the great epoch makers 

(119) 



120 HOY/ TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

when it divides the history into Seven 
Periods. 

The Seven Periods are thus designated in 
the Old Testament: 

Years. 

Creation to Flood — Adam to Noah. (Gen. 5.)__ 1656 

Flood to Call of Abraham — Noah to Abra- 
ham. (Gen. 11:10.) 427 

Abraham to Exodus — Abraham to Moses. 

(Ex. 12:40.) 430 

Exodus to Temple — Moses to Solomon. 

(1 Kin^s 6:1.) 480' 

Temple to Captivity — Solom.on to Nebuchad- 
nezzar. (1 and 2 King's.) — — 411 

Captivity to Return — Nehemiah to Ezra. 

i(Jer. 25:12.) 70 

Return to Christ — Ezra to Jesus. (Ezra 1:1 
and monuments.) _____________ 536 

Creation to Christ 4010 

But Bible Chronologists find reason to shorten by — 6 

Thus the year of Creation 4004 

This chronology and division of time is 
not of man's devising, but follows closely 
the Bible account, and the number seven 
makes it plausible, because among the Jews 
seven was a symbol of completeness. Thus 
there are seven Bible periods rounding out 
the history of the Jews as a people, and 
eight names of persons represent the seven 
periods. Thus keeping these periods in 
mind will help us to think through the Bible, 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 121 

and give us an idea of the order of the en- 
tire history. 

The Periods by Books* 

1. Adam to Noah — Genesis 1 to 7:6. 

2. Noah to Abraham— Genesis 7:7 to 11:26. 

3. Abraham to Moses — Genesis 11:27 to 50:26. 

4. Moses to Solomon — Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, 
Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 SamueU 1; 
1 Kings l:li; 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles 1:7. 

5. Solomon to Nebuchadnezzar — 1 Kings, 2 Kings, ,2 
Chronicles. 

6. Nebuchadnezzar to Ezra — Daniel to Ezra, 

7. Ezra to Christ— Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther and 
Apocrypha. 

The First and Second Periods, 

(Genesis 1:11-26.) 

The Beginning of History. 

It will be noted above that the first two 
periods embrace 2,083 years, and the history 
of that period is world history and not 
Jewish at all, but is given as an introduc- 
tion to Jewish history, and to show 
why God selected the Jews as his peculiar 
people. The facts are that salvation was 
offered to the world before it was to 
the Jews, but the world spurned the over- 
tures and went on in sin, and indeed those 
chapters tell us how man was created holy, 



122 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

but fell a victim to sin, and how religious 
worship started with the idea of offering 
sacrifices to cover or atone for their sins, 
and how God was merciful even at that 
early time, but the Jev/s, like Cain, did not 
understand. Then the second period starts 
off with God's judgment upon the world 
which seems to have been caused by the 
close association of the righteous with the 
wicked, and the flood destroyed the world, 
except Noah and his family. After the 
flood, when the world was re-peopled, it 
was Nimrod, an Ethiopian or Cushite, i. 
e., a Negro so-called now, who first estab- 
lished government in the world, and ruled 
an undetermined time as far as the Bible 
states, but the inscriptions make the time 
long. On account of God's displeasure, 
probably on account of Nimrod's selfish- 
ness in providing only for himself, God 
scattered the nations, and that is how Ne- 
groes happened to go to Africa as the white 
race went to Europe. 

The Third Period. 

(Genesis 11:27—50:26.) 

Origin of the Hebrew People. 

The Third Period began with the corning 
of Abraham, the great father of the Jewish 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 123 

race. He was a Syrian speaking ChaldeCj, 
which is closely related to Syrian. His un- 
selfishness was remarkable, for he preferred 
to make a sacrifice of home in order to help 
other people. He immortalized his name 
and God honored him by entering into a 
covenant with him as equal, showing a high 
estimate of his character. After his death, 
the blessing descended to Isaac, his son, and 
from Isaac to Jacob because of his moral 
power, i. e., his self-control, in spite of some 
other faults. 

From Jacob the blessing of God was with 
the entire Hebrew race who became the 
chosen people. Joseph cornes forward as 
the leading character of the time, and 
through his efforts all Israel settled in 
Egypt. 

The Fourth Period. 

(Exodus, Leviticus 8:10; Numbers, Deuteronomy, . 
Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 Chronicles.) ' 

The Rise of the Israelitish Nation., 

Israel told the king of Egypt from the be- 
ginning that they only came to sojourn 
awhile, and asked to be allowed to segregate 
themselves in Goshen away from the city 



124 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

life that would make them of a class with 
the Egyptians. After several hundred 
years they grew to be such a numerous peo- 
ple as to create a real race problem in Egypt 
very similar to the Negro problem in Amer- 
ica. They were crushed under the weight 
of Egyptian race prejudice and made 
slaves, but God raised them up a wonderful 
leader in the person of Moses who could 
not be distinguished from an ordinary 
Egyptian, Ex. 2:19, and personally, the situ- 
ation was not so unpleasant for him as his 
brothers; but he chose rather to suffer af- 
fliction with the people of God than to enjoy 
the pleasures of sin for a season, and he 
made a sacrifice for the good of his people, 
taking pains first of all to finish his educa- 
tion in the highest learning, Acts 7:22, 
he then made the mistake of setting 
an example of race retaliation which re- 
sulted in his exile in the land of Midian 
for forty years, where he kept in 
close touch with a wonderful Ethiopian, 
or, as we say, a Negro, who is thought by 
Dean Stanley to have taught him about Je- 
hovah for the first time. God finally sent 
Moses back to Egypt to work for-feis^ople, 
not by retaliation but by seeking the co- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 125 

operation of the dominant race, and event- 
ually lie succeeded in being permitted to 
lead his people out of Egypt, which was 
the only possible solution of the problem, 
but he left the Egyptians under the impres- 
sion he would return. When once safe on 
the other side of the Red Sea, he undertook 
to teach his people how to prepare them-^ 
selves for citizenship in the government 
about to be started. His father-in-law, the 
same wonderful Negro who set him think- 
ing along right lines in his exile, i. e., Jeth- 
ro, suggested that he change his method of 
personal ministry, and substitute the insti- 
tutional for the personal. Moses laid the 
situation before God and the Negro's ad- 
vice was approved, for God eventually gave 
Moses first the moral, and later the cere- 
monial law as the means best suited to them 
at that stage of development. But the tab- 
ernacle was set up to start the people on the 
way to a more spiritual religion. After a 
stay of two years at Sinai, the people 
marched to Kadesh-barnea, where they 
seemed to have remained for thirty-eight 
years, which added to the two years at 
Sinai made up the forty years in the wilder- 
ness; and at Kadesh-barnea, other laws 



126 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

were promulgated as found in the book of 
Numbers. Aaron died at Mt. Hor near 
there in southeast Canaan, and Moses him^ 
self died later at Mt. Nebo without enter- 
ing the land. But Joshua, his right hand 
man, was prepared to take up the work, 
and he it was who led the people safely in- 
to Canaan, and by a seven years' war sub- 
dued those Canaanites who were not killed, 
sufficiently to set up a government of the 
confederated tribes who were assigned cer- 
tain sections as their boundaries where they 
at least could make a base for the com- 
plete conquest of the district. 

The government set up could hardly be 
called a union of church and state; for it 
was the Jewish church which took under 
its care the social and legal administration. 
This commonwealth which is spoken of theo- 
logically as the theocracy, lasted three hun- 
dred and fifty-six years by calculation from 
1 Kings 6:1, and came to an end when Sam- 
uel installed Saul as king. At the same time 
when Samuel took this step, he also began 
to plan to offset the influence of worldliness 
upon his race by systematically training 
young men for the ministry in schools es- 
tablished for that purpose. Thenceforth, 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 127 

the voice of the prophet is heard in the 
land protesting against the doctrine of 
brute force, and promising the people that 
God would eventually send the Messiah who 
would establish, not a Jerusalem of force 
as they had learned to regard it, but the new 
Jerusalem, the longed for, the city of God, 
the kingdom of the Peaceable One. 

Saul proved a miserable failure, all a re- 
sult due to his unspiritual nature. But 
David was divinely appointed to succeed 
him, and he was prepared for proper lead- 
ership by unusual hardships that drew him 
close to God, and he put God first in all 
things, and honored the preacher who spokje 
of God, and through his spiritual leader he 
received the information that God had de- 
creed that his kingdom would never pass 
away, and David at once recognized the 
full import of the divine promise, and re- 
solved forthwith to so administer affairs, as 
to fit himself to become a type of the Prince 
of Peace who should afterward continue 
for all time to rei^n on earth, which David's 
kingdom approached more than any other 
up to that time. * 



128 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 



; (I Kingrs, II King^s and II Chronicles.) \ 

The Decline of the Israelitish Natiosn. 

Upon David's death, Solomon succeeded 
to the throne, and his reign was a peaceable 
one. He excelled as a man of worldly 
knowledge and affairs, but was by no means 
spiritually minded like his father, David, 
and cared little for preachers, and the voice 
of the prophet carried little weight with 
him. In fact, he felt he knew everything 
himself, and did not consult the preachers, 
and even took upon himself the priest's 
function. But the training of the prophets 
served them in good stead, and it was a 
preacher that laid the plan for changing the 
situation by inspiring the other dominant 
tribe of Ephraim through their leader Jero- 
boam to stir up a revolution with the re- 
sult that the kingdom was wrenched from 
Solomon's descendants so far as majority 
went, but Judah was more than a match 
for all the tribes put together. 1 Kings 11 : 
29-40. The prophets evidently erred in hop- 
ing to offset the idolatrous tendencies of the 
northern kingdom under the influence of the 
tribe of Ephraim of whom Hosea complain- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE -BIBLE. 129 

ed '^Ephraim is joined to his idols; let him 
alone/' for after two centuries and a quar- 
ter the northern kingdom was destroyed 
on account of idolatry's evil influence. It 
turned out that a minority is considered a 
majority with God when the minority 
stands for God, and the southern kingdom 
outlived the northern by a century and a 
quarter. But eventually the seed that had 
been sown by Solomon when he built heath- 
en places of worship around Jerusalem, in 
addition to erecting the temple, and when 
the low moral state of those high up caused 
the whole people to lose confidence in the 
triumph of spirit over matter, and when 
the prophet neglected Judah in the vain at- 
tempt to evangelize Ephraim, there grew 
up and developed such unspeakable idola- 
try that God sentenced the nation to an ex- 
ile of seventy years in Babylon. 

The Sixth Period. 

(Parts of Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Daniel and Esther.) 

The Exile of the Nation. 

The sixth period covers the time of the 
exile. We only catch glimpses of the trials 
and victories of the Jews in exile, but it is 
evident that affliction brought them nearer 



laO HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

to God, and by reason of the strong religious 
and moral character of individual Jews 
the people stood high with the ruling pow- 
ers, and their chief sorrow was the morti- 
fication of being captive, and especially, be- 
cause they were shut off from religious wor- 
ship which they felt that they could not offer 
in any place but the temple. But what they 
lost in sacrifices, they more than made up 
in Bible knowledge, and when Ezra recon- 
structed the nation, Bible study constituted 
the educational system of the nation. Fifty 
years after Jerusalem was destroyed, but 
seventy years from the first captivity, 
Babylonia was overthrown by the Persians 
whose king cherished no prejudice against 
the Jews. 

The Seventh Period. 

(Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther and Apocryphas.) . 

The Jewish People. 

Thus God redeemed his promise to the 
chosen race when affliction had sobered 
them of idolatry, and after seventy years, 
Shesbazzar brought back to Jerusalem as 
many as availed themselves of the permis- 
sion of Cyrus the king of the Persians who 
took over the Babylonian throne to return 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 131 

to Jerusalem that they might serve God un- 
der their own vine and fig tree. The tem- 
ple was rebuilt, and Zerubbabel of the roy- 
al seed of Judah managed to get the reins of 
government, and later on, the city of Jeru- 
salem was partly restored by Nehemiah, and 
Ezra the learned scribe and priest was al- 
low^ed to return to Jerusalem doubtlessly on 
account of the high favor of Jews at court 
by reason of Esther's service to her people. 
He got the people back to a respect for the 
law of Moses and put the nation upon a 
sound basis of Bible study. All, of this 
work of reconstruction was systematically 
and bitterly opposed by certain mixed 
blooded Jews that had migrated into Ca- 
naan and established themselves as lead- 
ers of the poor remnant that was not car- 
ried to Babylon. in Judah, and others who 
returned from the surrounding nations, and 
these so-called leaders were led by the Sa- 
maritans who were the carpetbaggers in 
Israel. . This closes the Old Testament ac- 
count, as found in our Canon, i. e., list of, 
inspired books in the Old Testament. But 
in the Bible that Jesus used there were four- 
teen other books that were not accepted as 
inspired, and were therefore called Apocry- 



132 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

pha, or uninspired writings. These Apocry- 
phal books, at least two of them, throw 
much light on Jewish history from the days 
of Ezra forward several hundred years 
afterward, and what is not learned from 
the Apocrypha can be gathered from Jose- 
phus and the Talmud. 

After the Return for awhile the prophet 
was heeded, but later the people lost con- 
fidence in the class of preachers of the time 
to such an extent that rabbins and scribes 
succeeded to the leadership. The Jews were 
allowed local self-government, and to apply 
part of the royal revenue to reconstruction, 
and they had a body at Jerusalem composed 
of one hundred and twenty priests and 
elders, styled the great synagogue, that 
had full charge of the Jews' affairs, and 
similar bodies were organized in all locali- 
ties over the country and called synagogues 
whose function was instruction in the law, 
and its administration. It was from the 
great synagogue that the Sanhedrin Court, 
composed of seventy-two priests, scribes 
and elders together, was derived. Under 
the leadership of Ezra and the scribes, the 
Canon of the Old Testament was fixed, com- 
posed of the same books in our Bible, but 
numbering only twenty-two instead of our 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 133 

thirty-nine, obtained by dividing some of 
the books into two parts. But the intel- 
lectual ought never to overshadow the 
spiritual in religious matters, for in such 
case unspirituality will result. However 
decided in the Canon, the great synagogue 
proceeded to put a hedge about the scrip- 
tures by traditions, and afterwards put a 
hedge about traditions. The idea seemed 
to build upon a religious aristocracy, who^e 
dictum on scripture interpretation must be 
final, and thus perpetuate their leadership. 
They conceived the idea of claiming that the 
law was both written and spoken by Moses, 
and the scripture represented only the writ- 
ten law, while the spoken law, which was an 
interpretation of the written law, could only 
be obtained as Moses obtained it, by direct 
ear from God and passed it down the line by 
whisper from one reliable religious leader 
to the other until finally it reached Ezra 
and he spoke it to the great synagogue, and 
the idea obtained that it was impossible to 
interpret the law except in the light of tra- 
dition, and finally, as might be expected, 
they put the oral ahead of the written law, 
the traditions ahead of the scriptures, and 
such was the condition that confronted 



134 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

Jesus when he dared to give his personal 
interpretation of the scriptures. 

Politically from the Return the Jews had 
local self-government, but were still sub- 
ject to the Persian Empire for two hundred 
years, or up to the time when Alexander 
the Great conquered the world. Then they 
were under Greek dominion for a century 
and a half, when they finally re-established 
their independence about 167 B. C, and 
maintained an independent kingdom for 
a hundred years, or until internal dissen- 
sions made them an easy prey to the Roman 
General Pompey, who captured Jerusalem 
64 B. C., and the Jews thus passed into the 
Roman Empire until Christ came, and even 
until the destruction of Jerusalem in the 
year 70 A. D. Thus they fell under the 
influence of foreign nations successively, 
but it remained for the Syrian King Anti- 
ochus Epiphanes, to persecute the race and 
profane the temple which led to the Jews' 
iijdependence. : , . 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Wliat is the first requisite to interpretation? 

2. WTiat version is recommended aind why? 

3. WJiat reference books are essential? 

4. What is meant by Canon? 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 135 

5. What ds the Apocrypha? 

6. What is meant by the Bible being a progressive 
revelation ? 

7. How do wo interpret the Old and New Testament 
each? 

8. How is Jesus the one interpretation of the Bible? 

9. How does the order of the books in the Bible af- 
fect interpretation? 

10. What is the best help to interpretation? 

11. Write out the periods of Bible history. 

12. Name the epoch makers. 

13. Give brief account of each period. 

14. Who was Nimrod? 

15. What caused the flood? 

16. How long were the Jews in Egypt? 

17. How long in Babylon before the return? 

18. What caused the kingdom to divide? 

19. How long did each last? 

20. Give your estimate of Solomon, and why? 

21. Give estimate of David, afnd why? 

22. When did the Jews attain their independence, and 
how long were they free? 



OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY, 

OR 

THE SPIRITUAL STUDY OF THE 
SCRIPTURES. 

It has already been pointed out that God 
used certain noble preachers- of high type 
to compose the scriptures under the di- 
vine inspiration. These men wrote various 
kinds of literature corresponding to the dif- 
ferent stages of the Jews' development and 
best calculated to impress the great mission 
of these prophets which was to introduce 
Jesus to the race and through the Jews to 
the v/orld. The different groups of books 
represent as many different prophetical 
methods of preaching ©r instilling into the 
people the divine word. But in every one 
of the four groups of Old Testament books 
Christ is spoken of in types and allegories, 
and it is interesting to take these groups 

(137) 



138 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

and these books one by one and see how, 
"Christ is all and all." 

The Five Books of the Law, 

Or 

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, 
Deuteronomy. 

These are the books inculcating the legal 
aspect of recreation. It was never intended 
that the law would do more than build up 
the morality of the Jews, which it did to a 
remarkable extent, and impart a higher 
conception of God's nature, and especially 
to prepare the way for Jesus. Thus Jesus 
says the law must be "fulfilled," or in oth- 
er words the law itself was only another 
form of prophecy, for that was the purpose 
of the entire Old Testament. Moreover, 
this group that is called the law contains 
even more history than law, and yet we 
call it all law. 

Genesis gives us in creation and genera- 
tion of the heavens and earth a beautiful 
type of a new creation in Jesus and of regen- 
eration. This first chapter is not intended to 
teach science but spirituality. Adam is a 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 139 



of Jesus, and the six days are an al- 
legory of the process of regeneration and 
sanetification. Adam is a son of God be- 
cause we were in Jesus to become the 
same. In the garden a redeemer is prom- 
ised who should come of the human race 
but only of a woman, the mystery of 
the incarnation. Adam and Eve tried to 
work out their own salvation, or in other 
words, to hide their shame, their sin, in 
their own way. But it remained for God 
to devise the plan of salvation by covering 
them with a sheep skin, and that is why it 
is afterwards taught that "without the 
shedding of blood there is no remission of 
sins," referring not to sacrifices, but the 
blood of Jesus indicated in covering over 
their sins with the skin secured by the death 
of the animal. This is the doctrine of the 
atonement which in Hebrew literally means 
a covering. "Blessed is the man whose 
transgressions are forgiven, and whose sin 
is covered." Not that sin is destroyed, but 
it is not imputed, for it is covered over, and 
God no longer charges us with it. This is 
what faith in Jesus does for us. He makes 
it all right with God, putting us in spiritual 
touch, and the touch gives power and event- 
ually self-control. Space will not allow us 



140 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

to enumerate the spiritual significance of 
Genesis found all through it, but we trust 
to go into the treasury more fully in the 
future. Genesis shows that Jesus was to 
come of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe 
of Judah, of the family of Jesse, and that 
he would make his advent before Judah 
should lose its ascendency over the nation, 
and no other lawgiver save Moses should 
be established in the race until Jesus, and 
Moses further on in Deuteronomy prophe- 
sied that Jesus was to take his place as medi- 
ator of a better covenant (18:15). Canaan 
is a type of the world, the Jewish race of 
the church, the Canaanite of the sinner, 
and the patriarch of the believer. The cove- 
nant that conditionally secured Canaan to 
the Jews forever passes over to us in a 
spiritual sense, for we are his spiritual chil- 
dren. 

It is m.ost interesting and helpful to fol- 
low the life of Abraham comparing his own 
with the Christian experience. Ever^^/here 
we see him meetino: with our human prob- 
lems, but we find him as far ahead of us 
as Jesus was of him. He dared to ask God 
to meet him upon an equality by a mutual 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 141 

agreement of covenant. The very concep- 
tion of such equality of standing in equity 
anticipated the teaching of Jesus which 
shows us to be God's sons anyhow, and his 
disposition toward us has always been as 
a loving Father indulging his child. His 
practical conception of religion is still 
needed, as well as his faith. Abraham is the 
spiritual father to us if we have his faith, 
but only a carnal father to the Jews in un- 
belief, and therefore we take over all the 
promises. Even in the story of Sarah and 
Hagar, and Isaac and Ishmael, Paul finds a 
remarkable allegory pointing to the short- 
comings of the law because too carnal, i. 
e., Hagar, while Sarah points to the cove- 
nant of grace and glory, given us through 
Jesus. (Gal. 4:22-31.) The idea of Abra- 
ham's making a sacrifice of his own son to 
atone for sin is intended to teach that God 
requires, not the blood of bulls and goats, 
but human blood as was afterwards freely 
shed by Jesus on Calvary. We must part 
with what is dearest to us to serve others 
best, our lives, our blood. 

Exodus. Hosea points to the spiritual 
si.eniiicance of Exodus when he sayi5 : "When 
Israel was a child I loved him, and called my 



142 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

son out of Egypt." (11:1.) God is here call- 
ing out the Jewish church under Moses from 
Egypt, the type of his afterward calling 
out the Christian church from the world in 
and out under Jesus. Just as the sacrifice 
of the passover lamb was the beginning of 
the Jewish Church, so the sacrifice of the 
Lamb of God was the beginning of the 
Christian Church. The passover lamb, 
though dead, was to be without a broken 
bone, signifying that Christ would die with- 
out a broken bone in order that he might 
have the free use of his body when he rose 
from the dead. Moses starts his work by 
giving the commandments and Christ be- 
gins his work by announcing the beatitudes. 
The book closes with an account of the build- 
ing of the tabernacle according to God's 
own direction, indicating the exact spiritual 
type of Christ represented by it. The tab- 
ernacle will be studied in Leviticus along 
with the cerem_onial la^v. 



SO Cubits 



A rk of CovenenT 



Holiest 

Most Holy 
Holy of 
Holies 



Vail 



Altar of Sweet Incense 



canciU- 
Stick 



Taole of 
the bread 

of the 
presence 



Holy place 
Sanctuary 
Inner Court 



Door 



Outer Court 



Braze n L aver 



Ahar oi Burnt Qffenn^ 



Cat-e 



The Tabernacle 



144 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

Spiritual Teachings of Leviticus — The 
Tabernacle. 

The book of Hebrews in the New Testa- 
ment is the kev that unlocks the door to 
the spiritual significance of Leviticus and 
the last sixteen chapters of Exodus. The 
Jews never did get the spiritual lesson, for 
their eyes were blinded, and Peter tells us 
that this was all really for our benefit from 
the first and not for the times when it was 
written. (I Peter 1:12.) 

Of course the tabernacle stands for Jesus 
in the flesh, the two apartments, holy place 
and hc'ly of holies standing for his human 
and divine natures. But Paul teaches that 
the church is Jesus' body, and thus the tab- 
ernacle also typifies the church, the church 
on earth and the church in heaven, and the 
veil that separated the two typifies the ig- 
norance of the Jewish church of heaven and 
the great hereafter. Now, what Vv^as in the 
holy place stood for what comes to one in 
the church, light and spirit typified by the 
golden candlestick, spiritual strength, the 
tables of shew^bread, and forgiveness is as- 
sured the believer by the altar of sweet in- 
cense. The ark of the covenant in the most 




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HOW TO ST^DY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 145 

holy place represents God's word as pre- 
served through the ages, and the mercy 
seat right over the word, as much as to say 
that God's mercy is based upon his word, 
and tlie cherubim stood for Jesus. The al- 
tar of burnt offering was the first thing to 
notice after entering the outer court and 
stood for the cross by which alone admit- 
tance into the church is possible. The brazen 
laver stood for regeneration and sanctifica- 
tion. 

The priest is the type of the believer, and 
the high priest of Christ. The sacrifices 
show nearness to and distance from God. 
Aaron, the high priest, going into the holiest 
is a type of Christ going to heaven to re- 
port to God, and the ringing of the bells on 
his garments represent Pentecost. The high 
priest was commanded to take two goats, 
and one was to die and the other was to 
live a separated life as Barnabas' Apocry- 
phal Epistle of Barnabas hints indicating 
that the atonement of Christ was to be af- 
fected both by his life as well as by his death. 
A significant fact! 

The Offering. 

Uniting the ideas in John 1 :29, with John 
1 :51, we derive the idea that since both the 

Sig.— 6 ii 



146 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

offerings and Jacob's ladder were types of 
Jesus, we can better understand the offer- 
ings by considering them as rounds in Ja- 
cob's ladder as in the following diagram: 







Thus the offerings indicate stages in our 
spiritual development and nearness to God. 
Jesus comes from heaven to save us down 
the ladder of the offerings as in Hebrews, 
and he takes us back up the ladder as per 
Rom.ans, i. e., is successive steps in sancti- 
fication. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 147 

For instance, at the appointed time David 
in Psalm 40:7, represents Jesus as saying: 
^*Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is 
written of me, I delight to do thy will, 0, 
God.'' This is Jesus preparing to come the 
way of the sacrifices, down Jacob's ladder 
to save us sinful men. His first step was 
to offer himself a burnt offering, i, e., lay 
aside all his glory and all that was dearest 
to him and to humble himself to take upon 
him the form of sinful man. His next step 
was to offer himself a meat offering, and he 
afterwards said : "My meat is to do the will 
of him that sent me, and finish his work,'' 
Jno. 4:34. He kept up his sacrifice, know- 
ing that "Man does not live by bread alone 
but by every word that proceedeth out of 
the mouth of God," his high purpose and 
faith sustaining him until on the cross he 
exclaimed : "It is finished : and he bowed his 
head, and gave up his spirit." Jno. 19:30. 
Then he became our peace offering, re-unit- 
ing and making peace between man and 
God. Afterward it became necessary for 
him to become our sin offering, so that just 
as the sin offering was sacrificed on the out- 
side of the camp, Jesus was later to be cruci- 
fied on the outside of Jerusalem, Finally, 



148 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

he made himself our trespass offering so 
that "If any man sin, we have an advocate 
with the Father, Jesus Christ the right- 
eous," I Jno. 2:1, and the way is open to get 
right. All of this explains the significance 
of the book of Hebrews which shows how 
Christ came the way of the offerings to 
save us from sin, and it is very strikingly 
spiritual. 

Now then he takes us to heaven by the 
way of Jacob's ladder, the sacrifices, i. e., 
his sacrifice on the cross. Going back up 
the ladder explains the heart of Romans, 
how we go to God. The first proper step 
is to accept Christ as our trespass offering 
and get right with people, and believe that 
acceptable to him. After getting right 
with men, get right with God by accepting 
Christ as our sin offering, and look to the 
cross in full faith and we realize we are 
saved. The next step up is to realize him 
as our peace offering, and rejoice in the 
Lord, but do not linger here, for we are just 
halfway up and we must keep on climbing 
until we get to the point where we accept 
Christ as our meat offering and make reli- 
gion first in life, and persevere to the end. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 149 

and finally, we shall have the strength to 
accept Christ as our burnt offering and by 
his grace follow him all the way in self- 
sacrifice and service, until he shall call us 
to be with him in glory always ! 

Laws of Holiness. 

These were intended to convey to us the 
necessity of living clean lives and yielding 
our bodies as servants of righteousness and 
not unrighteousness. Leprosy stood for 
sin, for there was no cure for it ex- 
cept through faith in Jesus. These also 
teach that Christians should live a sepa- 
rated life in communion with God and his 
people. Holiness is for the sake of serv- 
ice to others and not for selfish advantage, 
God would not allow the unclean to ap- 
proach him, and so uncleanliness will pre- 
vent our union with Christ, and the com- 
fort and help of the Spirit. 

The laws of separation point to the need 
of Christians to shun evil association in 
order to holy living, and the feasts stood for 
the rest and peace which would afterward 
come to us through Jesus. 



150 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

All of this ceremonialism stood for the 
Jews' religion and has no place in the Chris- 
tian faith, for it was only used as an ob- 
ject method of revealing Christ. It serves 
that purpose still, in a historical way, but 
"Christ is the end of the law to every one 
that believeth/' 

The Feasts. 

The Jewish Feasts were seven, but they 
are all now fulfilled. The Passover pointed 
to Jesus' death as does Easter which comes 
at the identical time, Pentecost for the com- 
ing of the Holy Spirit, the Jewish Sabbath 
the type of the Christian Sabbath when we 
do not sit dowm in idleness while the w^orld 
is dying, but we rest by doing the Lord's 
work and engaging in sacred worship. We 
have no right to insist upon one feast more 
than another, but the w^hole ceremonial 
system rose and fell together. "If I build 
again those things which I destroyed I 
make myself a transgressor," Gal. 2:18. 
"Let no man judge you in meat, or in drink, 
or in respect of a feast day or a new moon, 
or a sabbath dav, which are a shadov/ of 
things to come,'^' Col. 2:16-23. 

Numbers. This is strictly in the wilder- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE B.IBLE. 151 

ness book. The people were beset with 
trials on account of a lack of confidence in 
Moses, and the church meets with trouble 
as we fail to believe in Jesus. The brazen 
serpent predicted the healing mission of 
Jesus who started out by curing diseases. 
Balaam is the type of the money-loving 
preacher who traces a dollar, and who loses 
his spirituality to such extent that a 
brute beast excels him in spiritual insight. 
Deuteronomy is a book so spiritual that 
Christ often quotes from it, for the idea 
of obedience being the object of the Law, 
and the emphasis placed upon love, made 
the book a real contribution to spiritual 
culture of high order. In this book Moses 
urges the people to rally to Christ when 
he comes to earth. "The Lord God will 
raise unto thee a Prophet from the midst 
of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me : unto 
him ye shall hearken.^' Deut. 18:15. 

Christ and His Work in the Historical 

Group. 

The Book of Joshua gives an account of 
the war for the conquest of Canaan which 
is a type of the war of the church for pos- 
session of the earth, and Joshua is the type 



152 HOW^TO STUDY AND lEACH THE BIELE. 

of Christ, and faith is shown as the great 
dynamic; moreover, the significance of this 
war points to Jesus because Canaan must 
be taken from the cursed race and taken 
over by the blessed race, so that Christ's 
work might be staged at this strategic cen- 
ter which commanded the attention of the 
world by reason of its location. 

Judges is a t\'pe of the church torn asun- 
der by sin and division of petty leaders so 
that it proved im^possible to get together 
on any man as permanent successor to 
Joshua. The situation was improved to 
some extent by the personality and spirit- 
uality of thirteen men of decided religious 
character, more or less, called judges. But - 
the times were so degenerate on account 
of sin and unbelief that no great Messianic 
messp<ge came in those days, theologically 
called the Theocracv. 

But this book has value in pointing to 
the evil results of division and discord upon 
the spirituality of the people while the Jew- 
ish church is in confusion, idolatry makes 
inroads to an alarming extent, encouraeed 
by a time-ser\'ing, traveling" Le\'ite, and this 
idolatry never was uprooted until the cap- 
tivitv. This IS the idolatrous tendency to 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 153 

which Jeroboam catered, and a calf was set 
up in Dan, because that was one of the hot- 
beds since the days of the judges; the other 
calf was set up in Bethel in Ephraim as the 
other hot-bed since Joseph married a heath- 
en Egyptian whose son could never be 
weanea of idolatry. The latter part of the 
book also illustrates how immorality in- 
trenches itself in the dark hours of dissen- 
sion and confusion of the church. 

Ruth illustrates how religion in the home 
will stimulate affection and contribute in 
a very large measure toward the coming of 
the kingdom of Christ in power on earth, 
for Naomi's loving bearing interested Ruth 
in her religion which proved so attractive 
as to cause her to make the sacrifice of 
race and country and her national faith, 
and to identify herself with the chosen peo- 
ple. She married Boaz, who was the 
grandfather of David, the outstanding an- 
cestor of Christ. From every indication, 
if the family altar had fallen down, Christ's 
coming would not have materialized. 

I and II Samuel are named for the great 
judge and prophet, whose mother's faith 
gave him to the cause. His work was large- 
ly by organization, culminating in estab- 
lishing training schools for men called of 



154 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

Grod to preach, and the Messianic mission 
of subsequent prophets and their contribu- 
tions toward revealing Jesus is the result 
of Samuel's efforts. Moreover, he found 
David and inspired him to lofty ideals and 
profound spirituality that fitted him to be 
styled a man after God's heart. Triumph- 
ing over the severe hardships that came to 
him from the worldly minded and jealous 
Saul and finally conquering the surround- 
ing nations, David later was about to settle 
down in peace to serve God in a suitable 
temple as he thought. But God had a 
larger place for David, and through his 
pastor he was informed that his kingdom 
was to be everlasting; and from that time 
on David sought to apply religion to social 
administration, and spiritually understood 
the part he was to play in bringing on the 
kingdom of heaven through Jesus Christ; 
and he approached so nearly to the divine 
standard in his government, and his state of 
mind corresponded so nearly to Christ's, as 
revealed in his Psalms, that he acted and 
talked like Jesus himself when on earth 
nearly a thousand years afterward. 

I and II Kings. Solomon was only some- 
what of a reminder of the peaceable rule 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 155 

of ('hrist, for he was so worldly-wise and 
vain that he ignored the preachers of his 
day and corrupted worship by his compro- 
mising attitude in erecting heathen altars 
for his wives, that his whole contribution 
to the coming of Christ was negative — 
negative because he caused the nation so 
much sorrow and humiliation by his ex- 
ample, as the years passed by — that the 
preachers themselves and people, sobered 
up of their foolish conception of a Messiah, 
and the long-sufferings of the captivity and 
other foreign domination served as a real 
preparation for Jesus. But Solomon de- 
served none of the credit, for he was not 
humble enough for real spirituality to 
thrive. The play at international politics, 
on the part of the kings after Solomon, 
opened up an opportunity for the prophets 
to show their reliability as leaders, and also 
to predict a time when war would end and 
peace would come to stay, but this was im- 
possible until Babylon should chastise them 
for their sins. 

I and II Chronicles restate the narrative 
of I and II Samuel and I and II Kings, but 
the treatment is more priestly than pro- 
phetic, the temple obscuring spirituality. 



156 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

Ezra brings the good news of the return, 
and the study of the Bible began in the 
synagogue, but with the emphasis upon 
education rather than spirituality. 

Nehemiah was inspired to render a serv- 
ice of unselfishness to his people, and was 
more impressed to get the reward of right- 
eousness for himself than to keep his ears 
tuned so as to be able to catch a wireless 
message from heaven about the Messianic 
hope. But he did the best he could and con- 
tributed to the practical side of the king- 
dom. ^rf«-^| 

Esther simply recounts personal triumph 
over enemies and Jewish conditions in the 
captivity, and God's name is left out. But 
it is thought it helped the people back home, 
and secured favorable consideration for 
Ezra to return, and his coming gave us the 
Bible, or rather, all the books of the Old 
Testament except the five books of law. 

Prophets and Rulers of Old Testament. 

1. MOSES— Himself a. prophet. 

2. BARAK— Deborah. 

3. SAMUEL / 

. SAUL r SAMUEL 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 157 



4. DAVID 



5. AHAB 

6. JEHORAM 
JEHU 

JEHOAHAZ 
JEHOASH 

7. UZZIAH 
JOTHAM 
AHAZ 
HEZEKIAH 

8. JOSIAH 
JEHOAHAZ 
JEHOIAKIM 
JEHOIACHIN 
ZEDEKIAH 
GEDELIAH 



I NATHAN 
i GAD 



[ ELIJAH and MAICAIAH 



ELISHA 



i 



ISAIAH 



> 



JEREMIAH 



Christ in the Poetical Books — The Nature 
of Hebrew Poetry. 

The poetry of the Old Testament is not 
restricted to the Poetical Books, for large 
portions of the Prophetical Books are in 
poetry, and some are found in other groups. 
The prophets were poets and musicians, as 
well as authors and statesmen, and this fact 



158 HOV/ TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

should serve to interest us in the study of 
Hebrew poetry, for we will find it a help 
to proper interpretation. 

Hebrew poetry did not answer to the beat 
of time (rhythm), nor did the verses end 
in the same sound (rhyme) but the poetry 
was in the way the thought was expressed 
as to its meaning. There were two princi- 
pal poetical forms, the parallelism in which 
the same thought was expressed in differ- 
ent words in two sentences connected with 
and or without the conjunction, as follows : 

"The opening of thy words ^iveth lig-ht: 
It giveth understanding to the simple;^ 

The other main form is called antithesis, 
and consists of two parts of a sentence con- 
nected with but or the sam.e thought, as fol- 
lows: 

*The wicked fleeth when no man pursueth: 
But the rig^hteous is as bold sis a lion."' 

Sometimes we have synthesis in which 
the second number is followed by others 
which make advance upon and complete the 
idea. But for exegetical purposes, pure 
parallelism and antithesis assist us more 
in interpretation. For instance, take this 
passage in Habakkuk 3:7: 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 159 

"I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: 

And the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.'* 

Here the poetical form of expression is 
a decided help to the meaning and shows 
that Cushan was the same people as Midian, 
for these two words are parallel. That 
shows that Cushan, i. e., Cush, is the same 
people and country of Midian, i. e., Midian- 
ites, i. e., Ethiopians; i. e., Negroes, who are 
descended from Cush and Ethiopia. At 
least the prophet so understood the matter, 
and so intended to inform us, or he would 
not have formed the parallelism. We learn 
from Gen. 37:28, that the Ishmaelites were 
also called Midianites, which shows Midian 
and Midianite to be national designations, 
while Cushan and Ishmaelites are racial 
names, which means that Midian, i. e., 
Arabia, was the home of two distinct races, 
the Cushite or Ethiopian of the coast, and 
the Ishmaelites or Semites of the hill coun- 
try or interior. A thorough consideration 
of the nature of Hebrew poetry such as one 
ought to find in any unabridged Bible dic- 
tionary or encylopedia will more than com- 
pensate the teacher by reason of the in- 
sight it will impart into the profoundly 
spiritual thoughts recorded in those books 



160 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

of poetry, or song books, composed and in- 
tended by the prophets to reach high water 
mark in Old Testament revelation. 
^ The Book of Job. This book, which has so 
little in it to suggest that it was even written 
by a Jewish prophet, introduces to us the 
universal need and hope for some person 
to stand between us and God as mediator, 
because otherwise it is impossible to under- 
stand God. The divine mission of suffering 
as a preparation for high spiritual service 
is beautifully portrayed, and we get the idea 
that this willingness thus to suffer for right- 
eousness' sake is the one way a proper 
channel is secured for profound revelation 
of God. Thus, Job is finally brought to 
the point where he felt so much the abso- 
lute need of the work of Christ for the com- 
pletion of salvation that he writes the pro- 
found statement bringing out the idea that 
if Christ did not come while he was still 
alive in the flesh, he would still get the 
benefits of his mediatorial work even 
though he should have gone to the place of 
departed spirits, or as we say, the grave, 
where he still expected to see Jesus. This 
is the revised version rendering: ^Though 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 161 

worms destroy this body, yet without my 
flesh I shall see God/^ Job 19 :26. 

This hope of Job that death should not de- 
prive him of the advantages of the atoning 
work of Christ was realized when Christ ac- 
complished his death of his own accord, thus 
going into the place of departed spirits not 
a captive but a conqueror to complete the 
salvation which was impossible through the 
law only. This is the meaning of I Peter 
3:19 when he says: "By which he went and 
preached unto the spirits in prison," thus 
harmonizing Jewish hope with Christian 
faith. This is the Jewish viewpoint, and 
those who try to explain away this passage 
substitute a Gentile for a Jewish viewpoint, 
and miss the truth. Heb. 11:39, 40. 

The Book of Psalms perhaps represents 
the spiritual work of Christ when he should 
appear on the earth as no other book. These 
psalms were largely written by David whose 
personality they vividly represent. They 
were built up around the name of the sweet 
singer in Israel whose administration as 
king was so typical of the reign of Christ 
in the kingdom of heaven that he is pre- 
pared as no other to give us inside views of 
the great heart of our Lord. David even 



162 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

thought and spoke in terms of Christ, and 
Christ found himself saying things in the 
very words of David. The book starts off 
with a psalm showing the means and the 
end of a righteous life, then predicts the Gi- 
braltic strength of Christ's kingdom though 
starting in weakness, which greatly cheered 
the apostles at Pentecost, in the second, then 
the idea of being exalted to a position right 
next to God in the eighth, then the resur- 
rection foretold in the sixteenth. 

Then turn to the 22nd at 1, 7, 8, 16, 17, 18 
verses and note how truthfully David de- 
picted the crucifixion. The passing of cere- 
monialism and personal approach through 
Christ is in Psa. 40:6-8, and the ascension 
'as the culmination connecting us up with 
the great source of power from which spirit- 
ual gifts are imparted in Psa. 68:18. Space 
will not allow a thorough study of Psalms, 
but the book still holds its place in the hearts 
of God's people. Some Christians sing from 
this book only, but a psalm foretold Jesus' 
coming, while a hymn tells us he has come, 
and crowns him Lord of all. 

Proverbs. This is the book of com.mon 
sense intended for repetition in order to fix 
it in the consciousness. This book is in- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 163 

tended to hold us to common sense and 
equity as a basis for spiritual progress, and 
shows we do not have to lose our heads to 
be acceptable to God. 

Ecclesiastes is a warning to good-timers 
and young people hunting pleasure, and re- 
minds us that in the end religion is the only 
source of real pleasure, and exhorts us to 
live right and yet without cant or foolish- 
ness. 

The Song of Solomon, or Canticles. It 
has been maintained that this book was 
composed of songs to be used in connection 
with Jewish marriages, which accounts for 
its peculiar images and thoughts. At the 
same time it is typical of the very close per- 
sonal attachment and real affection that 
ought to exist between Christ and the be- 
liever, and when Christ came he spoke of 
the church as the bride and of himself as 
the bridegroom. Some find in the book the 
divinity of chastity. We find in it the call 
to absolute loyalty to Christ. 

CHRIST in the Prophetical Books. 

MAJOR PROPHETS. 

The books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel 
and Daniel are grouped together as greater 
or major prophets, no doubt, for a good 



164 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

reason. A spiritual study will show that 
they are more Messianic and tell us more 
systematically and thoroughly of the Christ 
and his work. The lesser or minor proph- 
ets tell us some pointed things about Christ 
and his work, but our main dependence 
must be upon the major prophets both for 
fullness of description and keenness of 
spiritual vision. 

Isaiah, called the evangelical prophet, 
presents a fullness of Messianic prophecy 
that makes his book a little Bible in itself, 
and strange to say it has sixty-six chapters 
corresponding to the sixty-six books in 
the Bible, and the first thirty-nine 
chapters of Isaiah give us a picture of 
Christ as fulfilling the political hope of the 
Jews, i. e., as a king corresponding to the 
thirty-nine books in the Old Testament. The 
last twenty-seven chapters give us an en- 
tirely different picture of Christ as suffer- 
ing for his people as the righteous servant 
of Jehovah, and this part corresponds to the 
twenty-seven books in the New Testament, 
and they are as far ahead of the other part 
of Isaiah as the New Testament is of the 
Old Testament — in part any way. Some 
people prefer to think there v/ere tw^o dif- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 165 

ferent Isaiahs because they conceive it im- 
possible for one man to entertain such op- 
posing views. But this is no harder to un- 
derstand than how John could write his 
Gospel and his Revelation. Such a matter 
is aside from our purpose in Bible study 
any way, for we are hunting for Christ 
and not Isaiah. The conception, miracles 
and triumph of Christ are predicted accu- 
rately, but the person of Jesus and his suf- 
fering and glory are told with astounding 
accuracy in the latter part of Isaiah, and 
to such extent that, if one is ignorant of 
Isaiah's prophecy, he is also ignorant of 
Jesus. Truly the life of Christ begins in 
the Old Testament, for if we had the Gos- 
pels only without the Epistles, we could 
find Isaiah a reliable (interpretation of the 
Jesus. 

Jeremiah does not tell us so much about 
the person of Christ as he gives startling 
information about the radical changes Jesus 
would inaugurate when he came to earth. 
Sacrifices are discounted as in Isaiah, and 
more radically in Psalms 40:6-8. He pre- 
dicts that a New Testament would come 
with Jesus, and that the law would then be 
observed throu8:h the work of the Spirit, 



166 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

and he discounts the idea of Adamic sin by 
teaching personal accountability to God for 
personal sin. It is said that this weeping 
prophet suffered so much in his personal 
life by reason of wicked men that some 
Jews are about deciding that their Messiah 
really came to earth in the person of Jere- 
miah, for their eyes are not yet open to see 
Jesus is the word, that is, that he alone ex- 
plains the Bible prophecy. 

Ezekiel was less weaned away from the 
ceremonialism which was so abhorrent to 
the more spiritual prophets, but he never- 
theless, gives a vision of Christ as related 
to the ceremonial law, showing how Christ 
would spiritualize the Jews' religion, but 
he did not go as far as Christ actually went. 
But we see Christ as revealed in the four 
Gospels in the figure of cherubim, the vi- 
talizing power of the Holy Spirit in the dry 
bones, and the expanding growth of the 
kingdom beginning at Jerusalem. He is 
very much unlike Jeremiah, and yet very 
much like him, teaching some of the same 
truths in a different way. 

Daniel reaches high water mark in king- 
dom vision, and the idea is impressed that 
his life of prayer and self-control won him 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 167 

special grace for his work as interpreter 
of other people's visions as well as his own. 
He predicts that from his time God would 
allow just four kingdoms to tyran- 
nize the whole world after the Babylonians, 
the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans. 
But in the time of the Roman empire the 
kingdom of Christ which had been com- 
ing down the line of the ages would reach 
the world and really work the ruin of that 
empire, and that from that time on the 
world would come under the power of the 
kingdom of God. He also foresaw a period 
of intense suffering for the loyal followers 
of Christ and after Jesus himself had filled 
the cup of his own sufferings, then a period 
of great tribulation must be endured by his 
followers until the end of the Old Testa- 
ment regime altogether. He even gave a 
pretty accurate idea of the time of his com- 
ing, in fact, predicting the very year of 
Jesus' coming if we regard his baptism as 
the real Messianic beginning. This book 
was popular with humble f olks-and no doubt 
explains why Anna and Simeon had such 
accurate idea of the time when Christ 
should be born. 



168 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 
THE MINOR PROPHETS. 

Hosea discovered the tender love and 
long-suffering, forgiveness and mercy of 
God by personal experience with his wife, 
and he stresses mercy as more dependable 
as a working basis for justification in God's 
sight than offering sacrifices which sought 
to satisfy his justice. This proved remark- 
able insight, for Jesus refers to the same 
mistake on the part of the Jews, and ad- 
vised them "Go ye and learn what that 
meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacri- 
fice/' Matt. 9:13. 

Joel predicts the blessings of the outpour- 
ing of the Spirit upon all classes of people 
with the coming of the Messiah, but warns 
evil doers of the terrible judgment that 
awaits them. 

Amos was more taken up with the social 
than the spiritual idea, and justly sees the 
reign of social reform in the times of 
Christ's triumph, and like all genuine 
prophets, called men to flee the wrath he 
saw coming. . 

Obadiah was possessed with the affairs 
of the times, and his book is a terrible ar- 



HOW' TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

rangement of the Edomites without mercy, 
and we will not linger here. 

Jonah in himself was as narrow as 
Obadiah, but after his coming back from 
his grave in the sea monster he agreed 
to help save the Assyrians, but he never did 
think too much of the position of prolong- 
ing the life of a nation that was a menace 
to his own people, and he actually lost pa- 
tience with his own religion in requiring so 
much of a narrow Jew. But Jesus discov- 
ers underneath this rough shell a truth of 
the deepest religious significance to him., 
his own Resurrection (Matt. 11:39), and it 
must have the same meaning for us. This 
book warns us against flippant criticism 
and worldly scoffing at any portion of 
God's word. 

Micah is strong in his attitude against the 
sacrifices and states that God has never 
cared for anything but doing justly, loving 
mercy, and walking humbly before him. 
(6:6.) He predicts accurately of Christ's 
birth and saw the splendid triumph of "the 
mountain of the house of the Lord/' 

Nahum saw the Ninevites in the condi- 
tion that Jonah would have enjoyed, and 
Ms book is in a class w^ith Obadiah, but not 



170 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

exactly with Jonah for this man Jonah was 
a contradiction and seems to have been di- 
vided in his mind, due to the conflict be- 
tween his attachment to his race and his de- 
votion to his God. But Nahum and Obadiah 
were wholly with their race, first, last, and 
all the time. 

'Habakkuk saw the Chaldeans executing 
God's judgment against the Jews for their 
stubbornness, but predicted that the "Just 
shall live by faith," faith in Jesus. Here, 
some say, Paul got the idea of justification 
by faith. 

Zephaniah sees the terrible day of the 
Lord coming to exact vengeance upon the 
faithless Jews, but he goes further arid pre- 
sents Jesus as finally coming to the relief 
and gi\^ng them another chance to m.ake 
good. 

Haggai was the prophet of the restored 
temple after the captivity and predicted 
the glory of the second temple would be 
greater than the first, doubtless because he 
saw Christ coming during the second 
temple. 

Zeehariah was associated with Haggai, 
and he gave us a book that represents Christ 
as coming more than once, his first and 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 171 

his second coming, and in a mysterious 
manner brings out with remarkable accu- 
racy incidents pointing to Judas' betrayal 
and the potter's field, and stresses the final 
conversion of the Jews to Christ. He pre- 
dicts the continued presence of the Holy 
Spirit as our helper resulting from a study 
of God's word under the images of the two 
candlesticks with seven lights each con- 
nected by some pipes, each with two olive 
trees where nothing interrupts the flow of 
the oil, a type of the ministry of the Spirit. 

Malachi closes the prophetical books and 
the Old Testament, and points to the low 
state of religion and a failure to provide for 
the temple service, and predicts that a 
change would only come with another man 
of the order of Elijah of such strong moral 
and spiritual stamina as to command the 
attention of the Jews — such a man must 
first come to prepare the way for the Mes- 
siah, a messenger going ahead opening the 
way of spiritual baptism by moral reform 
as did John the Baptist. 

The outstanding contribution of the re- 
ligion of the Old Testament is the hope that 
the prophets implanted of a brighter day 
for God's people along all lines. They real- 



172 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

ized the shortcomings of their own ideas, 
and they made slow progress bringing the 
masses up even to the prophets' standard, 
that they believed God would come to the 
help of the situation in time, and they mag- 
nified this religion of hope, and did not aim 
higher than a hope for the coming of the 
Great Anointed who would enable them to 
make good as a people true to their mis- 
sionary calling. 



o _ 

Q,<» 



-C 






THE TWO KINCDONS 

95a B.C. 

ISRAEL- I JUDAH 



■( 



KinfS Prophftj 

Jeroboam (a 2) 



^■\J/ad%b (1) 

(Baasha (19) 
^[£lah (a) 

J2/mri (7c/aysj 

i^Omr/ (r(bni')(i2) 
(Ahab~C2tJ "} ' 
Ahaziah (a.) 
Jehoram (/a) 

> (jehu (AS'j j 

{jehoahciz. (n) 
AicFehodSli (/^j 

jlJerohodm (^1)] \ Jonah 

\Zec/i<3p/dh ffomps(Amos 
^ Shallum (imo's)^ 



Elijah 



Elisha 



I /Meftdhem (/o; 



'Hosea 



g PcKah rao) 

■*^ Hash e a (gl^J 



Prophets KinfS 

Rehoboam (n) 
Alaijah (3) 

Asa (^ ^) 

[Jehosa phatlay) 

■Jehoram (?) 

Ahaziah (1) 

Athaliab (fc) 

Joash ('^o) 

Amaziah(a9) 

Joel /Uzziah (52)^ 

iMiahUotham (16)/ 

Micah)Ahaz (/6)^ 

ll Heze/(7ali1 (a9)' 

Manasseh (55) 

Amon (2) 

^ [TosTah 1 (31) 

Jehoahaz (3rn«j( 

Jehoiakim (l(J 

LZedekidh 



2 



Jeremiah 



174 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH TEE BIBLE. 

Diagram showing most prominent kings in each king- 
dom, grouped in dynasties. On the margin in braces axe 
shown the nations that waged war against each king- 
dom and when. On the diagram also are shown out- 
standing prophets who WTot-e the Prophetical books of 
the Old Testament during this period. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Why ds all of the Old Testament prophecy? 

2. Draw the tabernacle and appurtenances. 

3. Give typology of tabernaclie.. 

4. Write out typology of sacrifices. 

5. Relate the meaning of Jacob's ladder. 

6. Describe Hebrew poetry. 

7. Why is Isaiah a little Bible in itself? 

8. What contribution to Messianic prophecy does Jere- 
miah make? 

9. What ds Dandel's special contribution? 

10. Name, define and typify the several Jewish feasts. 



X 



XVII. 

SPECIAL INTERPRETATION OF THE 
PROPHETICAL BOOKS. 

We have seen that in a very true sense all 
the Old Testament is prophecy, for it all 
taught of Jesus' coming to the world by 
types and allegories. The prophetical books 
bring out the idea of social and civil right- 
eousness as the true expression of religion. 
In these books there is a constant conflict 
between the divine and the human idea of 
government. These books are destined to 
play a more important part in the develop- 
ment and administration of the principles 
of the kingdom in the future than ever be- 
fore. They stress the fact of the need of a 
practical idea of the kingdom. The Old 
Testament religion largely concerned itself 
with this world, while the New Testament 
stresses the future world. Christ himself 
stressed both which, doubtless, is the cor- 
rect idea, and the Old Testament propheti- 

(175) 



176 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

cal books will be in greater demand in the 
future than ever. We can learn much of 
the kingdom of God, which we have been 
thinking is one to be set up in heaven when 
we all die, by studying the kingdom treated 
in the historical and prophetical books when 
associated together. If we only knew how to 
get the meaning of these books of prophecy, 
and how to study them, we would be more 
interested in them. The historical books 
should be mastered thoroughly, especially 
I and II Samuel, and I and II Kings, and I 
and II Chronicles, the six historical books 
that treat of the Kingdom. I and II Sam- 
uel is like I Chronicles, and I and II 
Kings is like II Chronicles, except as to the 
kings of Israel, but there are important 
differences which can be mastered and har- 
monized if Crockett's Harmony of Samuel, 
Kings and Chronicles is used in the studies. 
This is a most useful book and will explain 
many a difficulty. This is a tedious study 
to go into the full details of the tvv^o little 
kingdoms in the Jewish race, but it gives 
a solid basis for the study of the last seven- 
teen books of the Old Testament in a way 
not only to see Jesus, but to learn more of 
the nature of his kingdom. Two diagrams 




c3 






C3 
-fc? 



o 



o 

m 

QJ 

ft 

a> 

GO 

.-2 1 



r3 
o 

1 r^ 
I ^ 

O r^ 

^ s 

03 1 — I 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 177 

are here given to illustrate the proper 
method of study, which shows that not only 
will the study of the lives of the 
kings help, but even the books of other 
prophets living at the same time will throw 
much needed light. 



Sig. 7- 



THE TWO KINGDOMS 
JUDAH ISRAEL 

I Jereboam 
I Atoi jah 



t Rehoboam n 

I Shemiah | 

X- Abijah 3 

3 Asa t^i 



Azanah 
Hananr 



Jehosaphat 



pnson 



^^ 



J'efiu 

Jchazael 

Eh'exer 



f) , Jehoram 

6. Ahaziah 

7. Athal/ah 
S' Joash 






Zechanihl KJ/led 

/ 6) 



9 AiTiaziah 
16 Uzziah 
1 1 Jot ham 
I A Ahaz 

'3 Hezek/'ah 

M Manasseh 
15 Amon a. 
I 6 Josi'ah 31 
I 7 Jehoahiz 3 mos. 
l«'Jphojdk/m 1/ 
I 9 Jehoiacfjin Smos, 
:lo Zedekiah tl 



fl'c 



5 9^ 
56' 



said/? 



Jeremiah 

2/pham'ah 
Hab. 
Ezek. 
Dan. 



SL.f^acfab 
3.Baasha 3.^) 
4.Elah aj 

5'. Zimri Tdays 
6.0mri -Tibni /a 
y.Ahab ^^^ 



afe 



zedekiah 
Mrfca/ah 



^Eltjdln 



g.Ahazf'ah 
9.Jehoram 

lO.Jehu 

ll.Jehoahaz 

/ajereboam 
\HZechariah 

/6. Menahem 
n.P^kahiah 

f^.Koshea 



ll02 



131 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 179 

Diagram of the two king'doms illustrating in brackets 
names of prophets who wrote no books, but exercised 
remarkable influence in their day. Attention is called 
to th^ long ministry of both Ellijah and Elisha. 

PROPHETS AND THEIR TIMES. i 

r Elijah \ 

Earliest Prophets — Joel and Jonah < Micaiah i ' 

[ Elisha \ 

[ Amos 

758 ) Hosea 

Before Captivity — Isaiah ^ Micah 

698 ', Nahum 

Zephaniah 

628 \ Habakkuk 

During Captivity — Jeremiah \ Ezekiel 



586 



Daniel 
Obadiah 



Haggai 
After Captivity ■{ Zechariah 

Malachi 

KEY WORDS TO PROPHETICAL BOOKS. 

Isaiah — Christ the King and also the Righteous Serv- 
ant. 

Jeremiah — The New Covenant. 

Ezefciel — Christ and the Ceremonial Law. 

Daniel — The Kingdom of Heaven. 

Hosea — The Mercy of God. 

Joel— The Spirit of God. 

Amos — Social Reform. 

Obadiah — Edom. 

Jonah — The Resurrection of Jesus. 

Micah — Conversion of the Gentiles. 

Nahum — Nineveh. 



180 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

Habakkuk — Faith in God. 

Zephaniah — Day of the Lord. 

Haggai — The Glory of the Second Temple. 

Zechariah — First and Second Coming" of Christ. "^ 

Malachi — Coming of John the Baptist. 



SOME OUTSTANDING PROPHECIES OF JESUS. 



1. 
2. 
3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 
18. 
19. 
20. 
21. 
22. 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 
27 
28 



-a 



Incarnation — Gen. 3:15. 

Birth— Isaiah 7:14. 

Divinity — IsaSah 9:6. 

Humanity — Isaiah 11:1. 

Time— Daniel 9:24. 

Forerunner — Isaiah 40:3. 

Place— Micah 5:2. 

Prophet — Deuteronomy 18 : 15. 

Priest— Psalm 110:4. 

King — Zechariah 9:9. 

Gentiles — Isaiah 11:10; Isaiah 49:6. 

Galilean Ministry — Isaiah 9:1-2. 

Miracles — Isaiah 35:6. 

Triumphal Entry — Zechariah 9:9. 

Rejection — Isaiah 53:1. 

Betrayal — Zechariah 11:12. 

Betrayal — Psalm 41:9. 

Desertion — Zechariah 13:6. 

Silence — Isaiah 53:7. 

Mocking — Psalm 22:7. 

Insult — Isaiah 50:6. 

Cries on the Cross— Psa. 22:1; Psa. 31:5. 
Piercing— Psalm 22:16. 

Bone not Broken — Psalm 34:20. 

Burial with the Rich — Isaiah 53:9. 

Casting Lots — Psalm 22:18 

Resurection — Psalm 16:10. 

Ascension — Psa. 68:18. 

Second Coming — Zechariah 12:10 and 14:4-8; Dan- 
iel 7:13, 14. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 181 

Prophetical Psalms. 

2 — Son of God, verse 7. 
16 — Resurrection, verse 10. 
22— My God, why, 22:1; He trusted, verse 16; Cast 

lots, verse 18. 
40 — Lo, I come, verses 6 and 8. 
45 — Grace, verse 2; Oh, God, verse 6; Anointed, verse 

7; Worship, verse 11. 
68 — ^Ascension, verse 18. 
69 — Stranger, etc., verse 8; Zech. 9; gall and vinegar, 

verse 21. 
72 — Dominion, verse 8. 

31 — Into thine hand I commit my spirit, verse 5. 
110 — Sit thou, verse 1; Priest, verse 4. 
118 — Rejection and glory, verse 22; Blessed be he, verse 

26. 
89— Verses 20, 26, 29, 36., 
18— Verses 4-6. 



QUESTIONS AND HAND WORK. 

1. What technical historical study is necessary to 
understanding the Prophetical books? 

2. What Harmony is recommended? 

3. Name the kings of Israel, and of Judah separately, 

4. Name the prominent prophets and tell under what 
kings they prophesied. 

5. Give key words to all prophetical books. 

6. Diagram Isaiah's ministry as per lesson. 

7. Diagram Jeremiah's ministry. 

8. Write down the outstanding prophecies referring 
to Jesus and show passageis. 



XVIII. 

THE BIBLE INTERIM 

OR 

THE JEWISH CHURCH TRAVAILING 

IN PAIN. 

The Old Testament canon was closed 
around the year 420 B. C, in the time of 
Ezra, and thus the Messianic prophecy was 
complete and needed no additions to modi- 
fy the picture of the Christ as therein set 
forth. This restriction of prophecy Christ 
afterward referred to as the door, i. e., the 
door of prophecy. Since the picture had 
been completed and no change could be 
added, the nation's expectation of the Ad- 
vent was quickened by the long silence 
that followed the days of Ezra. The con- 
ception through prophecy is now followed 
by the travail of the Jewish church as sug- 
gested in Revelation 12 :2. The nation was 
downcast, but the church seems to have re- 
called the challenge of Isaiah: "Awake, 

(183) 



184 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

awake, put on thy beautiful garments," and 
in this dark hour the truly spiritual are 
described beautifully w^hen John afterward 
wrote : 

"Behold, a Tvoman in heaven clothed with the sun and 
the moon under "her feet, and upon her head a crown of 
twelve stars; and the woman was travailing in pain about 
to b€ delivered of a child." Rev. 12:1, 2. 

At the same time Satan began to get im- 
usually busy and John in the next verse 
sees him and writes : 

"And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and be- 
hold a great red dragon having seven heads and ten 
horns." (verse 3.) 

The Jewish nation was under the domin- 
ion of four foreign dominations during this 
period, and also another included in one of 
the four designated as a ^little horn'' in 
Daniel 7:8, referring to the persecution 
from the Romish Church in the Roman 
empire, the fourth of these awful tyrannies, 
the other three being Greece, Persia and 
Babylon. But before this last persecution 
the Jews suffered from another 'kittle horn" 
as related in Daniel 8:9, representing their 
persecution by Antiochus Epiphanes' 
abomination of desolation when a swine 
polluted the altar of God. Satan was not 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 185 

only busy during this period in the govern- 
ments, but he made his way into the church 
to corrupt the leaders by the vagaries of 
the tradition, which brought to the front 
the scribes and pharisees as the responsible 
religious guides, and these filled up the cup 
of sorrow by depriving the people of the 
unfailing comfort of a spiritual interpreta- 
tion of the scriptures, and proved them- 
selves the unjust stewards spoken of later 
by Christ in Luke 16:15. But the really 
spiritual proved true to the end, being en- 
couraged by the prophecy of Daniel, whicb 
was their one book, in 12:3: "And they that 
be wise shall shine as the brightness of the 
firmament; and they that turn many to 
righteousness as the stars for ever and 
ever/' Satan in the church and in the gov- 
ernment brought the faithful to the critical 
darkest hour just before the dawn, when in 
the fullness of time Christ comes to the 
rescue of his own, man's extremity proving 
God's opportunity. Although the scribes and 
Pharisees lost the spiritual thread through 
traditions, which only allowed interpreta- 
tions that had been handed down by world- 
ly-minded rabbins, the humbly spiritual pro- 
duced and studied a class of apocalyptical 



186 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

and pseudepigraphical writing that more 
nearly conveyed the right impression upon 
the people, and it was not a study of the 
cabbala or tradition, but of apocalyptic 
literature and Daniel which gave Anna and 
Simeon the insight and assurance that qual- 
ified them to witness for Jesus before their 
departure from the w^ orld. 

Before passing on to the New Testament 
we should call attention brieflv to one or 
two points in the history of the period. 
During the five centuries Palestine was 
under foreign control there arose two 
parties among the Jew^s that played an im.- 
portant part in the history. The Alexan- 
drian Jews formed one of the great cen- 
ters of Jewish learning and influence, 
Jerusalem and Babylon being the other 
two. To enable the Greeks in the midst 
of whom they lived, to understand the 
antiquity of their nation, certain Alex- 
andrian Jews, seventy in number, trans- 
lated the Old Testament from Hebrew into 
Greek, and this is the first and oldest trans- 
lation ever made of the Hebrew scriptures, 
and this translation was called the Septua- 
gint, w^hich means seventy. The sadducees 
supported this translation and it became 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 187 

popular, and it was no doubt this transla- 
tion which Jesus used in his preaching and 
teaching, for the New Testament quota- 
tions correspond more with this than our 
own Old Testament, e. g., Heb. 10:5, and 
Psa. 40:6, where "A body hast thou pre- 
pared" in the first passage, is "mine ears 
hast thou opened'' in the other. From this 
illustration it can be seen there is an inter- 
esting difference, which would seem to point 
to the high value of LXX in interpretation. 
The Hebrew had no vowels at all, but it was 
left to the individual to supply the vowel 
required by context. Evidently in some 
cases the LXX used different vowels from 
our text where the vowel required was in- 
dicated by points. This translation will 
prove more helpful than a knowledge of He- 
brew unless the course is so thorough as 
to warrant the translator to decide the vow- 
els for himself. 

Now the Pharisees resented opening up 
and exposing their scriptures to gentile 
scholarship, and, moreover, they discredited 
the translation on the ground that the vow- 
els could only be determined by the unwrit- 
ten law, or the tradition. But the sadducees 
rejected the tradition or unwritten law alto- 



188 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

gether. The saclducees rejected the doctrine 
of the immortality of the soul or resurrec- 
tion, because they claim the Old Testament 
taught no such thing. The pharisees ad- 
mitted that, but claimed their tradition did 
teach the doctrine. They also advocated 
resistance to foreign rule, and were in the 
majority at Jerusalem. The pharisees were 
authority on tradition, and the scribes on 
the scriptures, the latter gave the letter 
of the law, and the former the interpreta- 
tion, and individuals were not to make inter- 
pretations unless received from the San- 
hedrin court in later times, or the great 
synagogue in earlier days. Christ miade 
his ow'n interpretation and did not cite 
any authorities in proof. This, of course, 
was bitterly resented. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is meant by Bible interim? 

2. How long did it last? 

3. Describe reference to each of the two ^*horns" of 

Daniel, and give passages. 

4. How does Daniel's interpretation in Daniel 8 relate 
to the interim? 

5. Why is the Jewish church said to travail during 

this period? 

6. Wliat Bible did Jesus and the apostles use? 

7. What is the evidence? 

8. Explain pharisees and saducees. 

9. Hunt up and find out how many pseudepigraphical 
writings there were, i. e., writings with other peo- 
ple's signatures so as to cause people to read them. 



XIX. 

JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY, 

OR 
THE TALMUD AND ITS LESSONS FOR 

US. 

The religion of the Jews of today is known 
as Judaism, and it is based upon the Talmud 
which really holds the place in Judaism the 
Bible occupies among Christians. The Old 
Testament is supposed to be interpreted in 
the Talmud, and there are no Jews that 
properly interpret the Old Testament, and 
still accept Judaism. The Talmud has sup- 
planted the Old Testament, and this has 
been true since the captivity in Babylon to 
a more or less degree, but it has been ex- 
pressly true since the silence of the voice 
of prophecy. The real or spiritual sense 
and study of the Old Testament was never 
properly appreciated by the Jews, except 
the very few deeply spiritual men called 
pronhets. The book has always been be- 

(189) 



190 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

yond and above the Jews as a people, for 
it came to us from the heart and pen of 
men who were not appreciated by the Jews. 
The religion of the masses of the Jews was 
a ceremonialism that the deeply spiritual 
prophets never did encourage. But the 
prophets' standard was too high for the 
Jews and is only properly appreciated when 
interpreted in the spirit of Christ. 
' For a number of years there was no writ- 
ten Talmud, but the tradition w^as im- 
parted from one to another in a secret way 
from mouth to mouth. The tradition was 
never written down until the sixth century 
of our era, as it is in the Talmud. The Tal- 
mud is not only the tradition but it is the 
traditional interpretation of the tradition. 
The original tradition was called the Mish- 
na, and the original interpretation of the 
Mishna is called Gemara. The Jews were 
taught that the tradition was the only 
proper interpretation of the law, and no 
man was permitted to interpret the law 
privately. Later on, this interpretation 
itself of the law had to be explained by 
another interpretation of the law, and the 
Gemara is the interpretation of the Mishna. 
Thus the personal interpretation was made 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 191 

more difficult. The idea was to "make a 
hedge about the law/' just as theologians 
of our day aim to make a hedge about the 
Bible to safeguard its interpretation and 
sacredness. But in the case of the Jews, 
more harm was done than good, and we 
must beware and not fall into the same er- 
ror. The Jewish teachers claimed that it 
was God's own plan that the scriptures 
should thus be interpreted, for they claim 
that at the same time that the written law 
was revealed to Moses, God also communi- 
cated to him the unwritten law, and in- 
structed him that it was to serve to explain 
the law, and that he expressly instructed 
Moses not to impart the knowledge of the 
oral, or unwritten law, which the Jews 
called the cabbala, but we call tradition, 
until he should first prove the person by 
proper test to know whether he was worthy. 
They claim the cabbala was whispered by 
Moses to Joshua, and then to the judges, 
then to prophets and Samuel, and then to 
Jeremiah, and finally to Ezra, and he to 
the great synagogue. The learning of this 
traditional interpretation constituted a 
Jew's education, and that, no doubt, consti- 
tuted Paul's course of study at Jerusalem, 



192 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

The one outstanding fact of the Talmud 
is its utter unspirituality and its most ridic- 
ulous effort to use! the Talmud to put over 
any proposition the rabbins thought desira- 
ble. To read this Talmud is a real shock 
to a spiritual person. Spirituality is utter- 
ly unknown, and individualism is utterly 
crushed in a dead institutionalism that de- 
stroyed all personality and initiative. It 
is no wonder that the Jews have degener- 
ated as a nation with such unspiritual lead- 
ers as the rabbins and the scribes. It was 
such interpretation as we see in the Tal- 
mud that the Jews applied to the Old Testa- 
ment, and the book was never properly in- 
terpreted until Jesus came, and broke away 
from the Sanhedrin and the tradition, and 
taught others to do the same. The Sunday 
School teacher can here see the signifi- 
cance of aiming to develop the personality 
of the pupil rather than crush it. 

This matter of the Talmud and the rela- 
tion of the Jewish rabbins to the Old Testa- 
ment is deserving a place in a book on 
teacher training to warn Bible students 
that it is very unsafe to consult Jewish rab- 
bins in order to understand difficult pas- 
sages in the Old Testament, for frankly 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 193 

they are not in a position to help one who 
is after the spiritual interpretation. All 
Jews are unbelievers in Jesus, and scoffers 
and blasphemers in the last analysis, and 
no man can understand the Old Testament 
unless first of all he is a believer in Jesus as 
the Saviour of the world. Consult a Chris- 
tian teacher and not a rabbi. This is a time- 
ly warning, for some of our best known 
Bible students are tinged with Judaism in 
their interpretation of the Old Testament. 
Any one who sees more in the Old Testa- 
ment prophecy than is already fulfilled in 
Jesus, sees too much, and is more Judaistic 
than Christian. 

Of course when we speak of Jews in this 
article, we refer to unconverted Jews who 
worship at the synagogue. But it must not 
be misunderstood that when we warn 
against Jewish interpretation of the scrip- 
tures that we would in any way encourage 
our people to be prejudiced against our 
Jewish friends and neighbors. On the oth- 
er, hand we especially advise that we do all 
in our power to show them that we regard 
them highly and honor them as a people. 
But, in the words of Jesus, "Beware of the 



194 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

leaven of the pharisees and sadducees," 
Matt. 16:6. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the cabbala? 

2. What is the Talmud? 
a What is the Mishna? 

4. What is the Gemara? 

5. What is ^ven as the origin of the tradition? 

6. What is its purpose? 

7. What was the Sanhedrin? 

8. How did Jesus teach? 



XX. 

INTRODUCTION TO A TEACHER'S 
STUDY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

The special preparation needed to under- 
stand the New Testament is not so much 
a study of the Roman Empire in the times 
in which Jesus lived from a gentile stand- 
point, but the best preparation for the 
study of the entire New Testament is the 
thorough study of the Old Testament, and 
the customs and antiquities of the Hebrew 
people. If available in some public library, 
an English translation of the Talmud will 
prove very helpful to a proper appreciation 
of Jesus as the Master Teacher by contrast- 
ing the silly and ridiculous ideas of the rab- 
bins with the enlightened spiritual inter- 
pretation of the Old Testament, and the con- 
trast itself will serve to show the need of Je- 
sus. In the study of the time in which Christ 
lived the emphasis should be placed upon, a 
comparative study of the religion of domi- 

(195) 



196 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

nant nations so as to see that Christ meets 
the needs of all nations by his practical 
spirituality. Attention is here called to 
the fact that the last two chapters in our 
study of the Old Testament in this book are 
really intended as an introduction to the 
New Testament. 

A teacher's study of the New Testament 
must be thorough and spiritual. The real 
teacher is the person that has fine percep- 
tion, and he actually sees more in the sub- 
ject than the other man, and this qualifies 
him to teach, and the other man feels that 
jway. A teacher training course ought to 
be a real help to a teacher in the study of 
the scriptures, going about in a thorough- 
going way that wilf impart a full knowl- 
edge. 

The New Testament is the story of Jesus' 
work and teaching in the gospels, the work 
of the apostles in the establishment of the 
church in Acts, the interpretation of the 
teachings of Jesus and the full appreciation 
of him as the Son of God, and finally in 
Revelation we have a moving picture of the 
trium.ph of the church over all opposing 
forces, and the establishment of the king- 
dom of heaven on earth. Here as in the 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 197 

Olci Testament, we must aim to master the 
story or narrative of the gospels and Acts, 
for all the other books stand so related to 
the gospels and Acts as to make them serve 
as the key to interpretation of the Epistles 
and Revelation. But while the story is 
very easy to be remembered, if properly 
studied and taught, in the case of the Old 
Testament, here we shall find much diffi- 
culty to get the details of our Lord's life 
clearly fixed in our minds because of the 
fourfold gospel. The Acts is not so diffi- 
cult of course. But it matters not how dif- 
ficult the gospel study may prove, the bene- 
fits to us will more than compensate for the 
trouble. 

Now, then, after a mastery of the details 
of the gospels and Acts, we are prepared 
for the historical as well as the spiritual 
study of the other books. We shall find 
that the more we learn of Jesus, the more 
we wish to know of the Old Testament, and 
the more we understand the latter, the 
more wie shall see Jesus in the light of his 
true glory. 

The four groups of New Testament books 
may be designated by a four word allitera- 
tion, i. e., four C's: 



198 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 



CHRIST 
CHURCH 
CHRISTIANITY 
CONQUEST 



GOSPELS — 4 

ACTS — 1 

EPISTLES — 21 

REVELATION — 1 



QUESTIONS. 



27 



1. What makes a real teacher? 

2. What is the New Testament story? 

3. Name the groups with four word alliteration. 

4. Name the groups in the usual way. 

5. Name the New Testament Books in groups. 

6. Give the contents teaching of each group in the 
4 C^s. 



XXL 

A STUDY OF THE GOSPELS 

Contribution Toward the Life of Christ. 

This subject is so worded because we do 
not have in the four gospels a full and con- 
nected account of the life of Jesus. Evi- 
dently such a connected account did not 
meet the needs of the situation nor the mind 
of the spirit, for Christ had indicated the 
best service the apostles could render when 
he said: "And ye shall be my witnesses/' 
not biographers to compile what others 
knew, but witnesses to tell what they them- 
selves personally knew; for what they 
knew they could tell with compelling 
power; and they did. Thus, the gos- 
pels give testimony and not opinion, 
especially the first three, called synop- 
tics because they keep to the evidence each 
had about the same opportunity to gather 
from personal experience, and of which 
his gospel was a synopsis. John is more 

^ ^ (199) 



200 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

spiritual because he expresses his decided 
opinion on the matters involved in the ac- 
count, and on that account the preponder- 
ance of evidence in any matter should lie 
with the synoptics, and in all differences of 
evidence, it is John to be harmonized with 
the synoptics rather than the synDptics with 
the spiritual classic from John^s pen and 
heart; and there must be harmony of all 
before the straight evidence is all in, and 
it is the loving task of the Bible student to 
discover the true harmony as before said. 
The Fathers interpreted Ezekiel 1:10 as 
showing that Christ should be studied from 
four different viewpoints, and the spirit 
thus led them to restrict the gospels to four 
out of the large number that were extant. 
Four gospels are better by far than one, 
just as four witnesses are better than one, 
"for in the mouth of two are three witnesses 
shall every word be established." One gos- 
pel might serve as a connected biography, 
but.w^ould have been insufficient as evi- 
dence, and the world wants evidence, and 
Jesus referred to this when he said, "and I, 
if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me." 
There are conflicting statements especial- 
ly in John as compared with the synoptics. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE 201 

but we have already above pointed out our 
proper attitude and method in these cases. 

It is a much harder matter to get a con- 
nected account of the life of Christ from 
the four gospels, but the advantage to us 
after all is more than enough to compen- 
sate. Instead of the four making the study 
harder, they really make it more accurate, 
for if one gospel is hard to interpret, anoth- 
er comes to our help by a parallel statement 
that gives enough difference to discover to 
us a side of the matter we had not noticed 
before, and the very information needed to 
understand it. The fact is that if they 
each said the identical thing, and did not 
differ in their evidence, that would really 
make the gospels less reliable, for four wit- 
nesses never agree in all details in testi- 
mony when they are really telling the truth, 
for no four persons ever see a thing alike, 
and if their accounts agree absolutely, it is 
a sign of collusion, and subjects the evidence 
to be thrown out of court. 

Each gospel gives the writer's personal 
impression of Jesus. Matthew saw in his 
humble and retiring nature the aspect of his 
life as typified by the face of the ox in 



202 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

Ezekiel 1:10; Mark the face of the lion; 
Luke the face of the man, and John the face 
of the eagle. No one writer could have 
brought out these four ways of beholding 
Jesus, for each had one outstanding im- 
pression. With no intention at all on their 
part, their sticking to the evidence as each 
saw for himself enables the mind of the 
spirit to triumph over their difficulties and 
limitations, and together they have given 
us a composite photograph of Jesus that is 
the conception of the spirit. 

No one gospel can be relied upon to give 
the rightful impression of Jesus the spirit 
wishes us to have made, but as Ezekiel saw 
four faces in one creature, so we m.ust get 
the fourfold picture of Jesus, and whatever 
that picture is like is the true likeness of 
Jesus. The gospels altogether give us the 
outline of his life v/hen they are examined 
and studied side by side, for what we do 
not find in one v/e m.ay find in another. It 
is highly desirable that we construct for 
ourselves a life of Christ from the material 
in the four gospels, which is really the 
spirit's desire, rather than to have us ac- 
cept some findings of some author who has 
written the Life of Christ. Whenever a per- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 203 

son writes a book he puts his own spirit into 
his book, and it is true of every such book 
on Christ now published, as a comprehen- 
sive treatment of that subject, that the out- 
standing impression is moulded by the au- 
thor rather than by the spirit. Now to 
prevent just such a mistake to the believer 
it is our privilege to read the account of 
Jesus in his own book so that his spirit, 
the holy spirit, may be left with us. God's 
spirit comes from reading God's book, and 
Jesus is the heart of the word, and if we 
stick closer to the word, we would come 
more fully under the influence of the holy 
spirit. We are printing a condensed out- 
line harmony of the gospels here, not to 
take the place of a regular harmony, but to 
enable the teacher to master this one 
thoroughly so that ever afterward he may 
harmonize the gospels whenever he studies 
them in the New Testament himself. This 
outline also has the advantage of being 
slipped into a pocket New Testament so that 
as v/e travel and wait we may not waste our 
time, but pull out our little book and read, 
and know what part of the life of Christ 
we are studying the moment we open the 
Testament. The Stevens and Burton's Har- 



204 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

mony does not base the study upon the years 
Christ preached, for really the New 
Testament does not give that information, 
but in this harmony the periods are based 
upon the ministry or work Christ did in 
each country, which is doubtless a more 
correct way. This is one advantage of this 
harmony, and each Sunday school teacher 
should own a copy, and make that book the 
guide or help to the study and construc- 
tion of the life of Christ. There is, how- 
ever, another great merit over others in 
Stevens and Burton's Harmony, and that is 
the arrangement of the work to the best ad- 
vantage for the teacher and students. For 
instance, there is a full outline harmony, 
i. e., simply the naming of the incidents, 
without the scripture, in such a way as to 
enable one to master these details in the or- 
der laid down, and that should be done first 
by the teacher who wishes to master the 
details of Christ's life. Then fill in each 
incident named by turning to the appropri- 
ate passages and stud3dng the incidents 
or teaching in detail, and also turning to 
proper place in the Bible as in studying the 
harmony. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 205 

In our study of the four gospels it is well 
to make Mark the basis because we have 
reason to believe that the order of events 
in his account more nearly correspond to 
the proper sequence. Another very instruct- 
ing and significant fact about Mark is that 
he begins his account with the public min- 
istry of Jesus instead of with his infancy. 
The presumption is that Peter followed this 
order in his preaching which was so effec- 
tive in converting sinners, for Mark is sup- 
posed to represent Peter to such an extent as 
to make a written gospel from the latter's 
pen unnecessary. In studying to teach, which 
means nothing less than studying to mas- 
ter, care must be taken not to lose sight of 
the main object. In the case of Jesus, the 
object is to show by his work and his teach- 
ings how he puts us in touch with God, and 
how after his ascension the holy spirit 
furnished the proof that Christ had made 
good in all that he promised, because when 
he came on Pentecost the disciples found 
themselves in possession of spiritual power 
otherwise impossible, unless this power 
had been released directly from heaven; 
for after all, the proof of Christ's claims is 



206 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

that we are able to draw on heaven for 
power to overcome in this world. Now 
then, as soon as the power came, then the 
reasonable thing is to want to know more 
about the wonderful man of Galilee, for 
we are just then in position to appreciate 
the wonderful incidents connected with his 
birth and infancy. The fact is that so many- 
make the unpardonable blunder of feeling 
called upon to safeguard Christ's reputa- 
tion as being divine, that they surround his 
life with such mystery as to becloud the 
very things he came to clear up. The fact 
is that Christ's deity will take care of itself 
if only we can get the facts of his life 
squarely before an individual or the world. 
His deity is not a product of our reason, 
but it is the holy spirit that makes us be- 
lieve him to to be the only begotten Son of 
God. So then the tea'cher may feel free to 
teach Christ as he would teach any other 
man's life, only in all moral earnestness and 
with scholarly thoroughness. 

But the teacher must believe the account 
as being true to the evidence, for we can 
understand no book unless we respect the 
author enough to believe he is honest in his 
statements. Do not question the honesty 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 207 

of the account but be fair by the Bible. The 
book refuses to yield its meaning to a per- 
son that refuses to accept the account as 
honest to the best knowledge and belief of 
the writer. But when we believe what we 
read, that is the first essential to correct 
interpretation. Christ himself furnishes us 
a striking example of the proper attitude 
and the result, in the case of the book of 
Jonah which to many readers of the Bible 
is a joke. But to Christ it was all very 
sober fact, for he never for once doubted the 
account, but proceeded at once to find the 
meaning and application to himself, and 
he was not slow to find in Jonah's experi- 
ence a type of his own death and resur- 
rection. Let us not take up too much time 
with incidentals, but strike at the root to 
learn the meaning and application to our- 
selves in particular. Yes, believe it your- 
self, or else you cannot expect others to 
believe it, it matters not what method you 
employ. And the result will be that even 
when we may have among our pupils a 
doubting Thomas, this method will event- 
ually bring such an one to the point, when 
the evidence is all in, that he will express 
himself like the doubting disciple— 

"My Lord, and My God!" 



208 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

It was the purpose of God in sending 
Jesus into the world to overcome the diffi- 
culty of our understanding of the abstract 
teachings about himself by allowing us to 
see the concrete truth embodied in the per- 
sonality of Jesus. It was because Jesus 
himself realized his disciples would make 
this very mistake, he calls upon us to be- 
lieve, not in his teachings only, but in him 
also, for we could better understand his 

teachings by understanding his human life. 
There are many such passages, but one is 
very strong where he says : "Except ye eat 
the body of the Son of man and drink his 
blood, ye have no life in you." Jno. 6 :53. This 
statement is thoroughly pedagogical as well 
as spiritual. And right here we need to be 
reminded that many such mysterious state- 
ments of Jesus can be understood by a 
thoroughly trained Sunday school teacher, 
where a less pedagogically prepared gradu- 
ate may scoff and sneer. There is no book 
on earth that is as easy to teach as the Bible, 
given the proper moral, intellectual, and 
spiritual training, for the book was writ- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 209 

ten in such a way as to make it easy to 
teach. 

One other fact should be known in our 
study of the gospels, and that is that John's 
gospel is probably not at all chronologically 
arranged, for it was no part of his purpose 
to give us a synopsis in order, but rather he 
tells us he wrote "that ye might be- 
lieve that Jesus is Christ, the Son of God, 
and that believing ye might have life 
through his name/' John, therefore, gives 
us an argument based upon the evidence, 
but he works up his material in such a way 
as to accomplish his purpose, and pays lit- 
tle attention to order. It is on this account 
that we no longer rely upon John to fix 
the length of Christ's ministry, for the 
three passovers he mentions may have been 
one and the same, when the other feast may 
not have been a passover at all. So we no 
longer puzzle over the length of the public 
ministry, which was doubtless very short, 
from the busy life Mark shows Christ to 
have lived by the frequent use of the words, 
"forthwith" and "immediately." The main 
thing is to know where he labored and the 
sequence of the incidents of his life. 

Sig.— 8. 



210 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

Now then when we follow the method of 
Mark in first showing the work of Christ 
and his teachings, later on we ourselves 
will certainly wish to know more about his 
origin, and we will not only by this time be- 
gin to look for something wonderful in his 
birth, but we will then wish to search the 
Old Testament where we will be convinced 
with John that Christ is the word, or in 
other words, to know the Bible is to know 
Jesus, and to know Jesus is to know God, 
and to see in Jesus the "Word became flesh 
and dwelt among us (and we beheld his 
glory, the glory as of the only begotten from 
the Father), full of grace and truth!" 

One other word should be added to call 
attention to the difference between the 
genealogies of Matthew and Luke. Matthew 
is writing to Jews, and from a Jewish 
standpoint would not think of tracing an- 
cestry through any parent but the father, 
and hence Matthew traces the ancestry 
through Joseph, although the latter was not 
really any kin to Jesus. But the Jews would 
expect the line through the father and would 
accept no other. But Matthew's genealogy 
is entirely true, for both Mary and Joseph 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 211 

came from the proper ancestry to corre- 
spond with prophecy. 

On the other hand, Luke traces the gene- 
alogy through Mary the mother of Jesus, 
which^is also true. Hence, the two differ- 
ent sets of names in the two genealogies. 

The Gospels. ^ 

Matthew: Ox — For Jews. 
SYNOPTICS •} Mark: Lion — For Romans. 

Luke: Man — For Greeks. 

John: Eagle — For Christians. 



APOSTLES 



^Matthew — Words and Work. 
) Mark — Peter — Work. 
jLuke — Paul — Son of Man. 
VJohn — Son of God. 

QUESTIONS. 



1. Why do we have four gospels dlnd not one only? 

2. What is the disadvantagre ? 

3. What is the advantage? 

4. Which outweighs the other? 

5. What book is strongly recommended? 

6. Make drawing of the brief harmony printed on page 
217. 



XXII. 
THE PERIODS OF THE LIFE OF 
CHRIST AND GOSPEL MATERIAL. 

In order to reach thoroughness in Bible 
study our first aim should be to master the 
history or biography, and therefore, we 
call this the historical method. This will 
enable us to know what was said or done 
first in order, and since the Bible is a grad- 
ual unfolding of God's purpose and plan, 
and there is development of the plan of 
presenting the divine truth, we should make 
the historical foundation thorough. Now, 
in order to get the historical background 
thoroughly fixed in our minds, it would ma- 
terially help if we could group the history 
around certain outstanding epochs, and 
periods in the life of Jesus, and we must seek 
to find some such periods to help to under- 
standing and memory. 

The old way of dividing into epochs was 
by years that our Lord preached, and we 

(213> 



214 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

had the first year of obscurity, the second 
year of popularity, and the third year of op- 
position; while the previous history was a 
period of preparation. But the Gospels do 
not teach that Jesus preached three and a 
half years, but we can only be sure of a 
ministry of two and a half years from the 
gospel account; while it is the prophecy of 
Daniel only that intimated somewhat a 
ministry of three and a half years. With 
the publication of Stevens and Burton's 
Harmony we no longer divide the ministry 
into periods corresponding to these years; 
but the ministry in each country where he 
preached serves as periods. Thus we have 
the Judean, the Galilean and the Perean 
Periods, while we group together all that 
we know before the public ministry and 
call this period the Thirty Years of Pri- 
vate Life, and the events connected with 
John the Baptist we call the period of the 
Opening Events in His Ministry; and the 
events connected with his death we call 
The Passion; while the events occurring 
after his death we call the Forty Days. 

Thus we study the Life of Jesus from the 
standpoint of ei^ht outstandinsr epochs 
which give us seven periods as follows : 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 215 

1st Period— The Thirty Years of Private 
Life. 

2nd Period — The Opening Events in His 
Ministry. 

3rd Period— The Early Judean Ministry. 

4th Period — The Galilean Ministry. 

5th Period — The Perean Ministry. 

6th Period — The Passion. 

7th Period — The Forty Days. 

The seven periods should be thoroughly 
fixed in mind in the order indicated above. 

Then the next step should be such a study 
as will enable one to find the place in the 
Bible where each period begins and ends, 
and thus be able to find what scriptures re- 
late to and explain each period. For this 
purpose it has been found that the gospel 
of Mark is best suited, for the reason that 
it appears conclusively that his gospel is 
the most reliable as to order of events as 
they actually occurred, and we follow Mark 
here. 

According to Mark, the periods corre- 
spond with the following passages : 

Period One — Nothing in Mark. 

Period Two — First thirteen verses of first 
chapter. 



216 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

Period Three — Nothing in Mark. 

Period Four — 1:14 to 9th chapter. 

Period Five — Chapter 10. 

Period Six — 11th to 15th chapters. 

Period Seven — 16th chapter. 

Mark fails to mention events that oc- 
curred during the private life or in the 
early Judean ministry, but we find the 
Scriptures for the first period in Matthew 
and Luke ; while the events of the third peri- 
od are found only in John. We thus see 
that no complete account can be found in 
any one Gospel, but Mark comes nearest to 
the full account of events but not of the 
discourses. The outline brief harmony 
here printed will be found especially help- 
ful in studying these periods. 



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218 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

Constructing the Life of Christ from 
Gospel Material. 

It is generally recognized by experienced 
teachers that impression is known by ex- 
pression, and these react the one upon the 
other. It seems to be the plan of the spirit 
that each person should construct his own 
life of Christ from the gospel material, for 
the lack of such a connected account in the 
Bible, is by no means accidental. Evidently, 
the Bible plans that each one should con- 
struct for himself the life so as to secure 
a mastery of the material which would 
otherwise be impossible. A map of Pales- 
tine and Stevens and Burton's Harmony 
will greatly help in the study. 

First, we should get fixed in mind the 
periods of the life in their proper order 
and location. 

Secondly, We should then master the in- 
cidents coming un(Jer each period as laid 
down in Stevens and Burton's, using pencil 
and paper freely to aid the memory, also 
the map to locate places associated with in- 
cidents. 

Thirdly, we should then study the^ de- 
tailed account in each gospel of each inci- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 219 

dent to get the general idea of it, using map 
and pencil and paper. 

Finally, we should study thoroughly the 
teachings of Christ and his miracles as 
methods of teaching, in each case drawing 
a comparison with any related teaching of 
Moses, i. e., of the Old Testament. 

Now we should construct at least four 
distinct accounts of the life, going deeper 
and deeper each time. This is no easy task, 
and this is not an effort to make it easy for 
the teacher, but to make it simply possible 
to master the life, for this is the supreme 
study of God's word, and if we fall down 
here, we fall down in all. It will require 
patience and time, but the labor ought to 
be one of love, and will crowd out of our 
lives much that makes against our spirit- 
uality. This harmony by Stevens and Bur- 
ton is especially helpfully arranged for the 
sake of mastery. The outline at the begin- 
ning is intended to fix this order or se- 
quence of events and is the basis of the 
study and when once mastered will serve 
the teacher in good stead the rest of his life, 
and is fully worthy of the time and sacri- 
fice it requires. Then the body of the har- 



220 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

mony itself will serve to give the proper 
idea of facts, both words and work, and it 
is wise to use the harmony itself as a basis 
of the study because each account there ap- 
pears side by side on the open page so that 
it is easy to compare one account with the 
other. But one must be sure to locate and 
find the place in the proper gospel in his 
Bible in each case so as to become familiar 
with his Bible, and be able to locate the ac- 
count any time and verify it. The har- 
mony is a lesson help that must be used 
thoroughly, but the use must not be hurried 
so that time will be allowed for locating the 
place in the Bible in each gospel. 

QUESTIONS. ^ 

1. What is meant by historical method of Bible study? 

2. What was formerly the way of dividing the life of 
Christ into periods and what the disadvantage? 

3. What is the new way, and why? 

4. Name the periods in the life of Christ. 

5. How may a life of Christ be constructed from the 
four gospels? 



XXIII. 
BRIEF HISTORICAL OUTLINE OF 
THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 

Our Lord Jesus was born of humble be- 
ginning in this world about 1925 years ago^ 
and around thirty years of age he entered 
upon the work of the ministry about the 
same time when John the Baptist was 
preaching. He began his work by fasting 
forty days at the end of which Satan greatly 
tried him, but he won out through a right 
interpretation of God's word. He then re- 
turned to his native town of Nazareth, but 
later on moved to Capernaum which be- 
came the family home. He performed 
miracles to get a point of contact for his 
teaching and back of every miracle was a 
useful teaching, and at Jerusalem during a 
passover, Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews, 
was drawn to confer with Christ because of 
his wonderful teaching and work, 

(221) 



222 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

Christ then went on a preaching tour in 
Judea, but after John's imprisonment, car- 
ried his work north through Samaria into 
Galilee, which he made the base of his min- 
istry with Capernaum as headquarters. He 
took advantage of synagogue service to 
teach the scriptures and always astounded 
the leaders by his words, and if he found 
any sick he healed them. After selecting 
four men as his disciples, he started upon a 
preaching tour in Galilee that caused his 
fame to spread far and wide and brought 
together a great multitude who followed 
him. Then it was that he picked out of the 
multitude twelve men to be trained so that 
they could carry forward the work after 
his death. He then took these twelve men 
and made another journey in Galilee where 
very significant things were said and done 
that made the Jewish leaders mpre hostile- 
to him. There was a third tour afterward 
when he sent the twelve men to exercise 
themselves in the work of the Kingdom. 
On that trip John the Baptist was mur- 
dered in prison which greatly depressed 
the disciples so that they all came back to 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 223 

Jesus to tell the sad news. When Christ 
took them aside to rest the people followed 
and he fed five thousand with two fishes 
and five loaves of bread. 

After withdrawing to Syro-phoenicia for 
better opportunity for rest and of teaching 
the disciples, he returned through Decapo- 
lis, and inquired of the disciples what peo- 
ple thought of him to get a chance to ask 
Peter who acknowledged him as the Christ 
and Son of God; and when thus he found 
that he had about made upon the leading 
disciple the right impression, and feeling 
his purpose accomplished, he began to tell 
them outright for the first time that he 
would be killed. From that time he began 
to think of Jerusalem, and coming down 
from the transfiguration he did not tarry 
long in Galilee, but went to Jerusalem to 
the feast of the Tabernacle in the fall of the 
year where his teachinsfs aroused opposi- 
tion. Going back to Galilee, he returned 
in some few months to Jerusalem where he 
had to escape for his life beyond Jordan on 
account of the OT3position of the relieious 
leaders of the Jews, who finally charged 



224 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

him with opposing Moses and the govern- 
ment. He returned within two miles of 
Jerusalem upon Lazarus' death to raise him 
to life, hut retired to Ephraim without vis- 
iting Jerusalem. However, after three 
months he went up to Jerusalem, and for 
a large part of the week taught in Jerusa- 
lem in the day and retired to Bethany at 
night, but on Thursday the leaders grew so 
enraged they paid Judas to betray Jesus, 
and he was arrested while at prayer in 
Gethsemane, and hurriedly carried through 
a terrible inquisition that night and official- 
ly tried early on the morning of Friday, and 
before the trial was properly concluded, he 
was surrendered to the mob and crucified. 
But on Thursday late in the day he ate the 
passover, but in the midst of the meal 
turned the occasion into a memorial sup- 
per that he requested his apostles to observe 
for him until his return. Crucified Fri- 
day, he remained in the grave on Saturday, 
but rose from the grave on Sunday, and 
was seen by his disciples and others for for- 
ty days before he finally ascended out of 
sight, without being fully appreciated for 
what he really was, but he cautioned his 
disciples to tarry at Jerusalem until the 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 225 

Holy Spirit should come to direct them in 
their work and their life and faith. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What year was Jesus born? 

2. How old was Jesus when he began preaching? 

3. How did he win out in the Temptation? 

4. Why did Christ perform miracles? 

5. How did Christ establish his work? 

6. How many tours did he make in Galilee? 

7. Give brief account covering each period in youf 
own words and write it out on two sheets of paper< 



XXIV. 

A BRIEF LIFE OF CHRIST, WITH 

EMPHASIS UPON METHOD AND 

TEACHING. 

Introduction. 

The Old Testament prophecy should be 
in our mind as we begin the study of Christ, 
for what we call expectant attention will 
cause us to appreciate the great mission of 
our Lord. The details of his life should 
always be studied with the larger thought 
in mind of the work he was to accomplish 
in bringing a revelation of God's nature 
and his attitude toward us, and his plans 
for bringing the world in harmony with 
the divine will. When we read or hear one, 
it makes all the difference in the world who 
it is that is talking, and what importance is 
attached to him. In order to this appre- 
ciation we should aim to master what the 
Old Testament teaches us about Jesus. 

(227) 



22-8 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

Christ's home having been in Nazareth, 
while his actual birth occurred at Bethle- 
hem teaches us how to understand and 
harmonize prophecies relating to Christ, 
and how to regard apparently conflicting 
accounts in the Bible. Jesus/ perhaps,, at- 
tended the local synagogue school beginning 
at five years of age, where he committed 
scripture w^ithout being taught its meaning, 
At ten, he was allowed to ask questions as 
to the meaning and he would thus study 
with a \iew to understanding until the fif- 
teenth year, if he followed the usual course 
of training. A study of the Jewish Talmud 
will give an idea of the very silly and world- 
ly interpretation given by the leading teach- 
ers of the time, which must have greatly 
distressed the deeply spiritual Christ. 
Christ's deity is nowhere showm to greater 
advantage than the contrast between his 
own and the rabbinical interpretation. We 
talk miuch of human heredity, but when we 
trace the line of Jesus we see that he could 
have inherited but little from the human 
side, if amihins". to account for his won- 
derful personality. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 229 

Thirty Years of Private Life. 

The Bible is silent on his boyhood, which 
means that we must not spend time guess- 
ing and imagining. At twelve, he began to 
show a deep interest in spiritual things, and 
it is usually around the same age today 
that children experience a religious a- 
wakening. Christ was in no hurry to per- 
form his life's work until he had first tak- 
en ample time to prepare himself especially 
in the study and meditation of God's word. 
And, by the way, his education consisted of 
the study of the Bible only, except the fool- 
ish traditions which never impressed him at 
all except to make him more disgusted with 
them. Just think of it, Jesus used the scrip- 
tures as the basis of his education, and 
still no man has yet even approached him 
in all around culture. What are we to learn 
from this fact, if not that the Bible should 
be the chief textbook of the Christian 
worker, and especially the Sunday school 
teacher. The eighteen years that he after- 
wards spent with his parents represent 
him as being subject to them, and as a mod- 
el young man. No doubt, his annual visits 
to Jerusalem for those eighteen years made 



230 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

according to the law, opened his eyes fur- 
ther to the needs of the times, and finally 
when John began preaching, the stern moral 
teaching was at once recognized by Jesus 
as the proper kind to bring people to their 
consciences. 

Opening Events in His Ministry. 

He was baptized in spite of John's pro- 
test, for he saw no need of such a step on 
Jesus' part since he was without sin. But 
Christ insisted that he must obey the word 
the same as everybody else, and he re- 
garded baptism as essential to full obedi- 
ence, and this should serve as an object les- 
son to us. He then went off into retirement, 
no doul^t, for deep spiritual meditation, and 
he fasted all the forty days of his retire- 
ment, and thus practiced in self-mastery 
which he knew would be so essential to the 
life before him. Here is food for thought 
on the part of preachers and Sunday school 
teachers, and shows where to place the em- 
phasis in preparation for Christian service ; 
that is to say, we should place great stress 
upon the moral side and practice self-control 
from the beginning. Christ thus gained 
such mastery over his body as to deliber- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 231 

ately lay down his life for the cause, for 
he also had power to take it up, which 
means that Christ could even exercise a 
greater control over his body than death 
itself did, for he rose again. The tempta- 
tions were just as real to Jesus as they are 
to us, and came to him as he was planning 
his life's work, and indicate the strong 
temptation to selfishness, and the spectacu- 
lar, instead of the humble life of service 
for others which he decided upon. It is 
notable that these temptations were onty 
overcome through the spiritual understand- 
ing of the Bible, and after the trial, came 
the joy of God's presence. Going back home, 
he made a short visit to Capernaum with 
the family, and, no doubt, made the ar- 
rangements by which it became headquar- 
ters of his public ministry. Then on his 
way to a Passover feast, he contributed ^ to 
the pleasure of the people at the wedding 
in Cana, doubtlessly, wishing to show that 
there is the social side of Christianity, and 
wine was only a part of the dietary in those 
days, and not like the strong drink evil of 
our times. 



232 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

Early Judean Ministry. 

At Jerusalem he became so disgusted 
with the mercenary spirit that allowed bus- 
iness for gain to raake headquarters at the 
temple, his righteous indignation so as- 
serted itself, no doubt, on the order of 
Cromwell in later times, the traders could 
not stand before him. By this time his 
reputation was such that Nicodemus sought 
him for a private interview, showing the 
effect of Christ's teaching upon the most 
learned men of his day. He then taught 
and preached in Judea and his disciples 
baptized more converts than John the Bap- 
tist who was also preaching in that section. 
But John was not jealous, but took occa- 
sion to emphasize that he was in no class 
with Jesus, and he regarded Christ as so 
far superior to himself that he was not 
worthy to unloose his shoes. John's un- 
selfishness opened up the way for Jesus, 
who only comes where the way is thus pre- 
pared by unselfish loyalty to the truth. 

Galilean Ministry. 

FIRST TOUR. 

Jesus went north after John's imprison- 
ment, and stopped for two days preaching 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 233 

at Sychar, and passed on to Capernaum 
stopping briefly at Nazareth, where he was 
not favorably received, and healed the 
noble man's son on the way. Jesus made 
it a point to attend the services of the syna- 
gogue and teach the spiritual interpreta- 
tion of the Bible, and he would heal any 
sick on such occasions. He is thought to 
have planned and carried out three separate 
preaching tours in Galilee, and the first be- 
gan with the call of his first four disciples 
while engaged in fishing. John tells about 
Christ having disciples before this, but they 
left John the Baptist for Christ, and, no 
doubt, Christ had them return to John. 
Now, after the latter's imprisonment, he 
makes choice of the four as his disciples, 
and carried them with him on his first 
preaching tour. On this tour he healed a 
leper by actually touching him, teaching us 
that to help the unfortunate we must come 
in the closest touch with them. Going to 
Capernaum, he healed the paralytic and 
aroused the opposition of the teachers, but 
the adm_iration of the masses, who praised 
God. On this tour another question arose 
as to Sabbath observance and Christ told 
them that it was up to himself to interpret 



234 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

the Sabbath, as much as to say that Moses' 
authority on the matter did not extend to 
him. He gave them to understand that the 
proper place for emphasis is not the insti- 
tution but the man; and indicated that the 
human soul is greater than any custom or 
mere law. This matter was agitated in 
several other connections at this time and 
was used to bring on his death, because his 
idea was that the Sabbath should be spent 
in good work, while Moses taught them to 
sit down on practically everything on that 
day. Thus when the infirm man was healed 
at Jerusalem, and the man with the withered 
hand was healed on the same tour, the same 
question of the Sabbath crystallized opposi- 
tion, and these leaders began to plan his 
death. Thus, from the first, Jewish lead- 
ers opposed his attitude toward ceremo- 
nialism as brought out in classifying things 
as either clean or unclean, but Jesus taught 
that it is not what goes in our mouth that 
is unclean. They called upon him to have 
his disciples fast like John's, but he showed 
it unnecessary, and he encountered the 
strongest opposition concerning the Sab- 
bath, and it would seem that Seven Day Ad- 
ventists would let that matter rest now. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 235 

since the Christian attitude on that matter 
was so different from the Jewish as to cause 
the death of Christ. Christ did not observe 
the Jewish Sabbath at all, for that was in- 
tended for Jews, and went down with the 
ceremonial law. We keep Sunday as a 
memorial to Jesus, and endeavor to observe 
the day in service for others, which we think 
pleases him. 

SECOND TOUR. 

At the close of this first tour of Galilee 
Christ realized that his name was known 
so far and so favorably by the large crowds 
that followed him everywhere, that he 
felt the time opportune to organize the 
movement of which he was the head that 
when he should be killed, as he knew all too 
well that he would be crucified, the work 
would go on. He prayed all night, and the 
next day came down and made a selection 
of twelve out of the whole body of followers 
so that he might give them special training 
such as would enable them to carry forward 
the good work upon his death. Then he 
"preached the sermon" on the Mount, as 
we say, but Matthew says that he sat down 
and taught them. And what he taught 



236 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

them was the difference between his own 
teaching and that of Moses, who had been 
the greatest teacher and mediator of the 
nation before Jesus. Moses began his work 
by the giving of the Ten Commandments, 
but Jesus gives just nine Beatitudes, em- 
phasizing that what is needed for success 
in our work is the blessing of God upon us, 
and he proceeds to show us how to secure 
God's blessings. In many ways, Jesus' 
teachings are in sharp contrast with those 
of Moses. He next teaches his disciples 
that he did not come to destroy the law, 
but to fulfill it, thus bringing out the pro- 
phetic nature of the law, which prophecy 
was fulfilled when Christ came. He speaks 
highly of the law, but in another place he 
shows that he is referring to the last six 
Commandments and not the first four. (See 
Matt. 19:18, 19.) His own coming made per- 
fect the revelation of God in the first four 
Commandments. Touching murder, he 
taught that the thing that might eventually 
lead to murder is murder to a certain de- 
gree and is to be guarded against as mur- 
der itself. He taught the same thing of 
adultery. He urged such positiveness of 
speech that no swearing would be necessary 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 237 

even for purposes of justice. He also taught 
against retaliation and resistance to evil, 
but advised rather a contrary disposition 
to be shown the aggressor. He taught 
against public show in giving and praying. 
He then gave a sample prayer, which brings 
out the idea that personal wants should take 
up a very small part of our prayers, but 
the glory and work of God ought to so en- 
gross our mind that we make this work first 
in our prayers. Then he tells us to pray 
against temptation which is so hard to re- 
sist. He warned against externalism in re- 
ligion, and taught against money getting 
as against doing good, and says it is up to 
us to make a choice between serving riches 
and serving God, for they do not go togeth- 
er, and shows that we can confidently re- 
ly upon God to care for us even more than 
the sparrow or the lily. He tells us that 
we are not expected to judge each other but 
ourselves. At the same time we cannot help 
from knowing the tree by its fruits, and 
that religion is doing as against mere pro- 
fession. He compared life to a building, 
and advised the right foundation and prin- 
ciple and faith, and indicates that only the 
few will make good as Christians. 



238 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

After this sermon, he went on a 
second tour and carried all the twelve with 
him, so as to let them learn how to repre- 
sent him. This journey proved very in- 
forming in understanding the plans of Jesus. 
The centurion's faith in Jesus causes him 
to take notice of a tendency on the part of 
the gentiles to receive and believe in him 
from the first, as against Jewish opposition, 
and he would depend upon the gentiles to 
follow him. He had cured the leprosy on 
the first tour, and now he raises to life the 
dead. He also shows the difference be- 
tween his method of procedure and that of 
John the Baptist, for while John was made 
a prisoner he first perfected his organiza- 
tion and plans before going to his death, 
and he spoke as if there was a radical dif- 
ference between their methods, but neither 
would reach the masses. High churchmen 
showed some respect for Jesus, as Simon, 
the Pharisee did, but the poor and outcast 
were most impressed for good. On this 
journey he honored womankind as never 
before by taking around with him a num- 
ber of devoted women who looked after 
his needs, and his ministry was thus made 
possible by the poor, who also seemed to 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 239 

make contributions, since a treasurer was 
necessary, and there is no record of any- 
one working for a livelihood. He spent a 
whole day by the sea, explaining his pur- 
pose and his plans by parables and warned 
the scribes that to refuse to recognize the 
work of the Spirit was really blasphemy 
which made salvation impossible. In the 
midst of his teaching, some one told him 
that his mother and brothers wished to 
see him, but he only said: "Who is my 
mother? and who are my brothers? And 
he stretched forth his hand toward his 
disciples and said, Behold my mother and 
my brethren ! For whosoever shall do the 
will of my Father which is in heaven, he is 
my brother, and sister, and mother." Matt. 
12:48-50. He thus teaches that the spirit 
should be the strongest tie that binds disci- 
ples. In his parables, he showed the king- 
dom to be like the sower and the seed, good 
seeds and tares, the mustard seed, the leav- 
en, the treasure, the pearl of great price, 
the dragnet. He spent another day by the 
sea performing miracles which proved a 
helpful way to teach. He healed the Gada- 
rene demoniacs, and allowed the demons to 
enter the swine to prove that it was through 



240 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

such demons that evil results come to our 
bodies. Healing the woman with an issue 
who merely touched him showed the effects 
upon Jesus' own body of the power of the 
spirit that charged his body as a magnet, 
it seems, for he said, "I perceive that pow- 
er is gone forth from me." Luke 8:46. 

THIRD TOUR. 

And he soon entered upon a third tour 
of Galilee, but this time he sent the disci- 
ples out two by two to help teach and spread 
the news of the kingdom, and gave them 
power over unclean spirits, and told them 
to go only to Jews, and not to gentiles, nor 
Samaritans, and one reason for this restric- 
tion was the limitation of their prepara- 
tion, which was especially suitable to their 
own race, speaking the same language ; and 
another reason was that Jews were bet- 
ter prepared to succeed in Kingdom work 
by reason of Old Testament training. It 
was at this tim.e that Herod beheaded John 
the Baptist to please a dancins: daughter. 
Surelv, young Christians would hate dan- 
cirio- pfter his awful crime! The master and 
the disciples M^'ere so greatly depressed by 
this sad news that Christ took them for a 




Miss Joanna P. Moore, for fifty-three years missionary 
among the Colored people and founder of Fireside Schools, 
the forerunner of the Home Department. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH TIH] BIBLE. 241 

rest in a desert place, but the people fol- 
lowed them, and Christ fed five thousand 
with five loaves and two flashes, and twelve 
basketsfull were left over. Certainly one 
lesson to us here is that if we give our all 
to the Master, we shall in fact be none the 
worse off. But John's gospel points out that 
this miracle was for the teaching value, and 
pointed to Christ as the bread of life, an 
idea utterly incapable of conception by any 
one except a believer; and the people left 
Christ at that timie in such numbers that 
Jesus asked the twelve if they also would 
go, but Peter spoke up and told Jesus that 
he had what they wanted and they were not 
going anywhere. This sad hour is called 
by us the Crisis of Capernaum, and from 
that time on Christ talked more to his dis- 
ciples than to the unbelievers. He m_ade 
another effort to rest with his disciples in 
Phoenicia^ but a woman recognized him 
and kept after him until he yielded to her 
prayer after severely testing her faith ; and 
recognizing that he was knov/n there, he 
came back through Decapolis, and at Beth- 
saida fed another multitude of four thou- 
sand with seven loaves and a few small 
fishes. He told some pharisees that he 

Sig-.— 9 



242 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

would eventually give the sign of Jonah as 
the crowning proof of his mission, refer- 
ring to his death and resurrection. Jesus 
recognized that since John had actually 
been murdered that his time was short, 
and he began to find out whether his work 
was in such shape as would justify him 
in going to the Cross. Since he deliberate- 
ly refused to acknowledge himself the Mes- 
siah to a single Jew (the Samaritan wom- 
an was not a Jewess) but left it for each 
Jew to discover the fact for himself, he 
now wanted to know just what impression 
had been made upon his disciples. When 
asked, Peter confessed his belief that Jesus 
was the Messiah, the Son of the living 
God. Christ was greatly pleased to note 
the progress made by Peter in true spirit- 
uality, and he calls him a rock, and im- 
plied that he would depend upon just such 
real character and faith in his deity to es- 
tablish his church, and gave the assurance 
that as long as faith in his deity is the foun- 
dation of the church, it would never die, or 
never be buried, i. e., the gates of the grave 
V70uld never shut it in. (See Matt. 16:18), 
And he gave the apostles authority to de- 
cide upon interpretation of his teachings, 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 243 

and that is why we so highly esteem the 
epistles, i. e., because they explain Jesus. 
Peter was thus able to recognize Jesus as 
Christ because of his knowledge of the Old 
Testament prophecy, and yet he did not see 
Christ exactly as he was. So Christ carried 
him and two others to where they could, 
through a vision, compare him with Moses 
and Elias, and let Peter learn directly from 
God that Christ is not in a class with Moses 
and Elias as he seemed to think, but Jesus 
was all in a class by himself, and until he 
thus saw Jesus there came a cloud to over- 
shadow, as much as to say that if V\^e do not 
see that Christ is above all, we shall throw 
a dark cloud over the interpretation of the 
Bible. 

When they all came down from the moun- 
tain, the nine disciples were found trying 
to cast the evil spirit out of a boy, but they 
made a failure, and called upon Jesus to 
help. Christ healed the boy, and explained 
that such a victory can come only after 
prayer and fasting. Surely the lesson we 
are to learn here is that if evil habits still 
haunt the believer and cause him to do 
wrong, the cause is that the person has not 
come under the power of the spirit; but 



244 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

such an one must not give up, but fast and 
pray, and keep on till relief comes, for self- 
control will come in time. It also stresses 
that it is the nine, i. e., the ordinary believ- 
ers, who run across this trouble. Going 
back to Capernaum when his enemiies 
tested his patriotism by calling on him for 
his taxes, he paid by a miracle, and did not 
tarry, but made a hurried visit to Jerusa- 
lem in the fall of the year to attend the feast 
of the Tabernacles v/hen he boldly asserts 
his teachings and calls upon men to follow, 
speaks of real freedom as against slavery 
to sin, and declares him.self the light of 
the V70rld. V/hen he told the people that 
Abraham rejoiced to see his day, and that 
he existed before the father of the He- 
brev/s, the^/ took up stones and tried to kill 
him, but he escaped and returned to Gali- 
lee for a brief stay only, for he planned to 
return to Jerusalem within three months 
to the feast of Dedication which was abo'ut 
the same as our Christmas. 

Perean Ministry. 

When he would return through Samaria 
they would not receive him, and so he 
planned a whirlwind campaign in Perea and 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 245 

appointed seventy special disciples to trav- 
el by twos to make arrangements for him 
so as to enable him to cover the largest pos- 
sible ground in the shortest time. Some 
of the most essential teachings of his en- 
tire ministry were brought out in Perea 
where the aim was to impress both upon the 

people and the pharisees themselves the 
faithlessness and inefficiency of the consti- 
tuted religious leaders. He shows how per- 
sistence in prayers brings results, hov/ as- 
cribing to Satan what the Spirit only can do, 
is blasphemy, discourses on the sacrifices in- 
cident to their discipleship, teaches humili- 
ty at the Pharisee's table, shows by the 
story of the Samaritan who is one's neigh- 
bor, and by the parable of the unjust stew- 
ard he warned the pharisees that they had 
lost their influence by faithlessness, and 
suggested that they come into the Kingdom 
and take a new start, and guarantees that 
if they would do this they would never lose 
out in their work and influence any more. 
Another parable of warning was the story 
of Lazarus and the rich man, and then he 
spoke three parables of grace : the lost sheep, 
lost coin, and lost son. Going to Bethany, 



246 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

he raised Lazarus and retired to Ephraim 
without going to Jerusalem, where he con- 
tinued his direct teaching as well as para- 
bles and miracles. Then passing Jericho 
and Bethany where he was anointed against 
his death, he entered Jerusalem on a Sunday 
morning. 

The Passion. 

He rode upon an ass in his triumphal 
entry and wept as he contemplated the 
doom of Jerusalem because of sin. Going 
out to Bethany to spend the nierht he cursed 
the fig tree on his way back Monday as a 
token of the impending doom of Jerusalem, 
and going into the city, cleansed the temple 
the second time, it would appear. Tuesday 
was a day of conflict when his teaching was 
vigorously challenged at every point, and 
he spoke three parables of warning, and 
being asked three questions by Jewish lead- 
ers, he not only quieted them for the time, 
but then proceeded to ask them one question 
which silenced them altogether, i. e., if the 
Christ was David's son, why did David call 
him Lord, unless to prove his Messiahship 
was to be interpreted as spiritual and he 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 247 

himself at the head of a spiritual kingdom, 
which was so impossible to the Jewish mind. 
As soon as he heard that gentile Greeks 
were inquiring for him, and wanted to 
know more of his teachings, he realized 
that this spelled success for his mission, 
and he indicated his readiness to die as 
his entire life focused this end, and he 
prophesied the coming of the Kingdom in 
some way closely related to the imminent 
desolation of Jerusalem. The chief priests 
and Judas plotted his betrayal, and the 
next day, Wednesday, seems to have been 
quietly spent at Bethany, and on Thursday 
he observed the passover, and may have ob- 
served it a little before the usual time be- 
cause he was very anxious to observe it 
with the apostles so as to introduce the 
memorial supper in its place to be observed 
by the faithful until he came again, so he 
did not finish the whole passover ceremony, 
but as Judas went out in the midst of the 
supper, he then instituted the communion 
because he had the right crowd present and 
the traitor absent. There is no place at the 
communion table for the disloyal. The 



r 



248 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

reason for supposing that Christ ate the 
passover a little earlier is on account of 
passages in John, i. e.. chapter 13 and verse 
29, where it was thought when Judas left 
the supper he went to get something that 
would be needed for the passover: and also 
in chapter 18 and verse 28, when Jesus' per- 
secutors refused to go into Pilate's judg- 
ment hall at the trial of Jesus, ''lest they 
should be defiled: but that they might eat 
the passover."' This interpretation shows 
how John ought to be haiTtionized with the 
s\iioi3tics and not xice versa, as in the case 
of those who tried to prove by John that 
Christ himself never really ate the pass- 
over. That same night while he was 
at prayer in lonely Gethsemane he was 
arrested by the aid of the traitor, who was 
more anxious to m.ake monev than to hann 
Jesus, for he later on committed suicide 
when he saw what his love of money had 
caused. Peter followed Christ at a dis- 
tance, but no other disciples were in sight 
at all,, for Matthew tells us in 26:56. -'Then 
all the disciples left him, and fled," and 
Mark says the same and tells of his own 
fleeing (Mark 14:51), as we suppose Mark 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 249 

to be the naked young man. Peter was 
finally admitted to the high priest's place 
through the suggestion of "another" disci- 
ple that surely could not be John since he 
rendered Jesus no help but stood by and saw 
him suffer. John in chapter 18:15 says 
"that disciple" went in unto the high priest. 
Surely our John did not play double like 
that, and it looks very much like "that dis- 
ciple" here was Judas, who may have had to 
face Jesus with a charge, as well as show 
where he could be found that night. Peter 
shows up creditably in the whole trial, if 
we think he swore simply to keep from be- 
ing put out, so that he could not see the trial 
through. Jesus was mistreated to an un- 
usual extent for no offense except his be- 
ing represented as speaking in contempt of 
the temple, his ignoring certain phases of 
ceremonialism, and his doing good work on 
the Sabbath. Finally, they secured a per- 
jurer who swore that Jesus had committed 
an offense against the Roman authority and 
so they succeeded in passing him up to 
Herod first, then to Pilate. "But he was 
taken from prison and from judgment,'' 
and his trial was broken up by a typical 



250 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 



American mob after a poor Xegro, and he 
was haiched after being dragged about and 
made to carry his own cross. How can 
any Christian stoop so low as to repeat this 
shameful treatment upon a himian being 
whose skin happens to be dark ? 

The Forty Days. 



After being in the gi'ound one whole day 
and a part of two days, making what the 
Jews considered three days, he rose from 
the dead no doubt in the same bodv, as it 
had been especially prophesied that no bone 
was to be broken at his cruciflxion since 
he could not have gone about with broken 
bones after his resurrection. That same 
day he so explained the scriptures to two 
disciples on the vray to Emrnaus that they 
were so carried away with the teaching they 
saw for the first time Christ all through 
his word rather than Christ in the flesh. 
Such an interpretation was impossible un- 
til Christ had paid the price and died the 
death. The same night he showed up in 
a room with the disciples with Thomas ab- 
sent; and a week afterward he again ap- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 251 

peared with Thomas present and convinced 
him thoroughly. He appeared later on to 
the eleven, and then to still others, and in 
Acts 1:3, it is said that he remained here 
forty days before his ascension in the pres- 
ence of the disciples who saw two others 
beside him, who stated that Christ would 
come again. And devout believers are still 
looking for him to come and thoroughly 
establish the Kingdom he had started while 
in the flesh. 

As long as Christ was in the flesh it 
proved an obstacle to real spiritual faith as 
we see in the case of Thomas, (John 20:27- 
29), and he therefore insisted upon going 
away: "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it 
is expedient for you that I go away: for if I 
go not away, the Helper will not come unto 
you," Jno. 16 :7. Faith in Jesus is not an in- 
tellectual act, but the conviction of the Holy 
Spirit, who by the way, does not take the 
place of Jesus at all, but only helps us to 
get in proper touch with him and Christ 
is still "All and in all." Now then as soon 
as the Holy Spirit enables us to see Jesus 
as he is, at once we want to know more of 
him, and we become deeply interested in 



252 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

his conception, his birth, his infancy, and 
childhood and we appreciate and love him 
to such an extent that neither Matthew nor 
Luke can picture the incarnation in terms 
so bewildering but that our adoring hearts 
and minds thank God for the beautiful 
glimpse into his early childhood, and makes 
us still more deeply appreciate and love 
him. This is the proper way to teach the 
life of Christ, which is the way both Mark 
and John present him to us in their Gospels. 
His deity is not an argumicnt, nor yet a doc- 
trine. It is a fact self-evident through the 
work of the spirit upon our hearts. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the right study as an introduction to the 
Life of Christ? 

2. How do the prophecies about Jesus' birthplace il- 
lustrate Bible interpretation? 

3. V/hat was the sig-nificance of the temptation? 

4. What was the significance of the sermon on the 
mountain ? 

5. What did the transfiguration teach Peter especially? 

6. Who was the disciple that had Peter admitted 'to 
the high priest's house? 

7. What were the charges ag-ainst Jesus before the 
Jewish authorities? 

8. What Gospel should be the basis of studying Jesus* 
life and why? 

9. What lesson comes to us from Christ's c^stin^ out 
devils ? 

10. Name the ten appearances after the resurrection. 



; XXV. 

TEACHINGS OF JESUS. 

1. Interpretation of Old Testament. 
Christ interprets and enlarges upon the 
the teachings of Moses and the Old Testa- 
ment. He insisted that his disciples first 
endeavor to evangelize the Jews because he 
came with a special message for them, 
founded upon the revelation as already 
partly made before. 

2. Christ's work was pre-eminently that 
of a teacher, and it is through his teaching, 
both by exam.ple and doctrine that we come 
into possession of the benefits of his life and 
his death. He did not come to secure our 
worship and adoration, but he came to help 
us to know God and serve him acceptably. 
There are those who make no effort to know 
what he teaches, but such persons honor 
and adore him as God, and seem to think 
it was the superhuman in Christ that made 

(253) 



254 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

his life possible, and they seem to think that 
it is expecting too much of an ordinary hu- 
man to follow his life and teachings. But 
Christ taught us to worship God and not 
himself, for what he wanted us to do is to 
catch on to his ideas and teachings. That 
is really what we mean when we speak of 
believing in Jesus, believing in what he 
taught. It is very true that Christ is God, 
but such conviction comes from God through 
the Holy Spirit. It is not Christ who de- 
sired it, but God willed it, as we read : 

"Wherefore God hath highly exalted him and ^ven him 
a name that is above every name, that at the name of 
Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in heaven and 
things on earth, and things under the earth, and that 
every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to 
the glory of God the Father." Phil. 2:9-11. 

The adoration of Christ as God proceeds 
from the soul under the influence of the 
Spirit. But he wishes to teach us "Why 
call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the 
things which I say?" (Luke 6:46). That, 
no doubt, was his purpose in saying to the 
man who called him good master: "Why 
callest thou me good ? none is good save one, 
that is, God.'' (Luke 18:19.) 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 255 

These passages show his desires. Be- 
lieving on him does not consist of believing 
in him as God only, but also and especially 
believing in him as man and teacher. 

3. Jesus was the first to teach us the 
fatherhood of God and the brotherhood 
of man, and this is an interpretation of the 
creation story in Genesis. 

4. Christ does not emphasize total de- 
pravity, but rather he places a high value 
upon the possibilities of the human souL 
He calls us not servants as in the Old Testa- 
ment, but friends and brothers and sons. 
The parable of the prodigal son expresses 
Christ's idea of the relation of the sinner to 
God. 

His teachings about God are radically 
different from the Old Testament, which left 
us under the impression that God was a 
master and we his servants. 

5. Christ commands nobody to do any- 
thing any time, but he says he gave a new 
commandment to love, i. e., the law of love, 
and of course that is not a command at all 
in the usual sense. Everything is volun- 
tary in Christ's teachings. He takes us 
from under all law except the law of love. 



2B6 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

Instead of law he gives us grace by which 
we are placed under a sense of honor rath- 
er than under a fear of penalty. 

6. Again the teachings of Jesus are not 
to be harmonized with Moses and the Old 
Testament, but rather the Old is to be in- 
terpreted in the light of the teachings of 
Jesus and the New Testament. "Ye have 

heard that it hath been said but I 

say unto you.'' This must be understood 
to properly appreciate so as to be able to 
understand Jesus. No matter at all what 
the Old Testament taught you, follow Jesus, 
for Jesus is right, and your idea even of the 
Old Testament is wrong. Because he said 
he came not to destroy but to fulfill does 
not m.ean'that he will not differ from Moses. 
On the other hand, he taught that if new 
wine is Dut in old bottles, the bottles v/ill 
break. ^[Luke 5:37.) 

Christ taught the doctrine of a riorhteous 
life, a life and not a creed, and this life the 
result of a new birth, a new start upon an 
entirely different basis. He spoke in para- 
bles so that no one would be interested or 
able to understand except the morally ear- 
nest. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 257 

7. As Jesus arrested the thoughtful by 
parables, he reached the less thoughtful by 
another method of teaching, that is by mir- 
acles by which he got the point of contact. 
Therefore, in studying about a miracle, do 
not waste time debating the possibility of 
such a thing, but go right about seeking the 
lesson indicated. 

The heart of the teaching, for such it 
really was intended to be, is to see what 
truth we are to appropriate. This is a most 
impressive method of his teaching. 

8. His teaching was to wean the Jews 
from sacrifices and ceremonial laws, and he 
taught the sacrifice must be a personal 
one and not external to ourselves. The 
proper sacrifice was the sacrifice of our own 
life of ease and pleasure. 

9. The sermon on the mount is his inter- 
pretation of Moses' teaching. 

10. He offers the rev/ard of heaven and 
warns against the terrors of hell as incen- 
tives, and gives us power to live right by 
sending the Spirit into our lives. He warns 
us against Satan, and by example shows us 
how to overcome him. 

11. He does not teach that God requires 



258 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

his death. On the other hand, he tells us 
that even before he died, he was the resur- 
rection and the life. Believing in his death 
is believing in his life, and it w^as not God 
who slew him, but it w^as sin in others that 
caused his death. He does tell us his death 
w^as necessary to properly impress men wdio 
failed to heed anything less than blood. God 
did not kill Jesus, but sin killed Jesus, and 
God simply allow^ed it because man will heed 
nothing less than blood. 

12. He taught of coming back again, and 
in the light of ^vhat has really happened 
in fulfillment, he has already come before, 
and will still come again. 

Miracles as Object Lessons. 

Christ used the object mxethod of teach- 
ing as well as metaphors and parables. He 
gives us to understand this especially in 
the case of the feeding of the five thousand, 
but does not take time ahvays to explain. 
It was a method of his to leave something 
for us to think out for ourselves and find 
out more about in the study of the Bible. 
He healed diseases as the best w^ay to teach 
the horrible nature of sin and his power 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 259 

to cure. He cast out evil spirits to thor- 
oughly impress us that wrong living is due 
to the activity of evil spirits in our hearts. 
He raised Lazarus to make his disciples 
look for his own resurrection, and so on 
through all the miracles. With him the mir- 
acle was never an end, but a means, and 
a means of teaching, for his one outstand- 
ing work was teaching by word and exam- 
ple and object lessons. 

What folly it is to get carried away with 
the detail of the miracle to the neglect of 
the teaching! It is like exalting the illus- 
tration above the instructions. What would 
a teacher do if his silly pupils refused the 
teaching of an object lesson to discuss the 
object itself? It matters not what the mir- 
acle is, however seemingly impossible, ac- 
cept it at its face value, and go on to see why 
the account is inserted in the Bible, or what 
is its teaching value. Viewed in this light, 
we certainly follow the example of Christ 
in his construction of the incident about 
Jonah when we hunt for the spiritual truth, 
for this position proves our proper atti- 
tude for Bible study to be morally in ear- 
nest and childlike faith. 



260 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 



QUESTIONS. 

1. What did Jesus teach of God? 

2. What was the work of Jiesus intended to accom- 
plish ? 

3. Was Christ a preacher or a teacher? 

4. What incentive did Jesus offer? 

5. What of the second coming? 



XXVL 

THE ORGANIZATION AND GROWTH 

OF THE CHURCH UNDER THE 

LEADERSHIP OF PETER AND 

PAUL. 

After the ascension the disciples tarried 
at Jerusalem for ten days in Bible study and 
prayer until Pentecost when they were 
awakened to a new appreciation of Jesus 
through the work of the Holy Spirit as 
promised. The timid Peter now grew as 
bold as a lion and preached a sermon of 
great spiritual power showing that Old 
Testament prophecy had been fulfilled in 
Jesus. Such interpretation came through 
the Holy Spirit that cleared away all doubts. 
But to the masses there cam^e another evi- 
dence of the Spirit's power when the Jews 
present from the surrounding countries 
could each understand the speech of the 
apostles, though themselves speaking dif- 

(261) 



262 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

ferent languages. When it is remembered 
that the Jews never thoroughly spoke any 
foreign language, but made Yiddish or 
Ladino of it, i. e., blended their own with 
the foreign language, it can be readily seen 
that there was a common element in the 
language of each Jew coming up from all 
the surrounding nations, and, doubtless, the 
apostles spoke the common tongue through 
the shaking up power of the Spirit who 
stirred up fundamental things in the soul. 
At least there was no so-called ecstatic, but 
a real language, and there is nothing in I 
Corinthians 14th chapter contrary to this 
sense. During the previous ten days the 
local church had been organized and anoth- 
er son of Mary, the mother of Jesus, had 
been elected pastor, James, the author of 
the epistle of James. At once a change 
took place in public opinion among the 
masses around Jerusalem, for Peter had 
baptized three thousand, and a representa- 
tive of the more scholarly class had con- 
fessed Jesus Christ and joined the church, 
i. e., Barnabas. The persecution of the dis- 
ciples led to the establishment of a com- 
munity in which all shared alike. Peter 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 263 

and John were released after arrest, but 
the entire twelve were later imprisoned 
when it was seen that great success followed 
the work of the apostles. Money poured 
into the common treasury in such quanti- 
ty that the apostles advised that the church 
should look out for assistants who consti- 
tuted the first deacons, one of whom testi- 
fied so powerfully for Christ that he was 
murdered. After Stephen's death the dis- 
ciples fled in large numbers from Jerusa- 
lem, and some went to Antioch, and no 
doubt, some went to Rome and started a 
church there. Peter's shadow even was 
thought to have power to heal, and he 
worked in other parts of Judea; as it were 
the corresponding secretary of the work in 
Palestine. He was the first to receive a 
gentile into the church, but this gentile was 
not the first to join outside of the Jewish 
race; for Philip, another deacon, had al- 
ready baptized the Ethiopian eunuch, a Ne- 
gro. Peter and James, the apostles, were 
finally imprisoned and James was killed, 
while an angel delivered Peter who left 
that section as a field for his mission work, 
and judging from his epistle, he seems to 



264 HOWi TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

have gone to preach to his own race in 
Babylon, for many Jews were still there. 
There is not even the least evidence that he 
ever did visit Rome. He appears later on 
at Jerusalem and in Antioch, but never did 
reach the prominence he had when he was 
in charge of Jewish missions in Palestine. 
But we should esteem this noble servant of 
God, for it was through his practical knowl- 
edge of the Old Testament, and personal 
sacrifice, that Christ began and carried for- 
ward his work. John the Baptist intro- 
duced Jesus, while Peter through superior 
Bible knowledge was the first interpreta- 
tion of Jesus to the Jews. While he was 
not scholarly, his knowledge of the Old 
Testament was deeply spiritual after the 
Holy Ghost came upon him, and he 
preached Jesus as the hope of the Jewish 
race, and he is still their only hope. 

Now it can be seen that if the future of 
the church depended upon the evangeliza- 
tion of the Jews, the outlook was not en- 
couraging, but Jesus had said that he had 
other sheep that were not of this" fold, and 
that they would hear his voice, and there 
would be one fold. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 265 

Paul, the apostle of the gentiles, was the 
man God had in reserve to carry the Gospel 
to the gentiles. He was brought up in a 
popular gentile educational center at Tar- 
sus in Cilicia, and no doubt this atmosphere 
drew him closer to these gentiles and caused 
him to better acquaint himself with their 
religion which was nothing less than ridicu- 
lously unfit. His heart went out to them, 
and it may be that his gentile sympathies 
caused his father to send him to Jerusalem 
for a thorough training in the language 
and traditions of his race, perhaps hoping 
thus to wean him away from his liberal ten- 
dencies. This view is confirmed when Je- 
sus afterwards said to him, "It is hard for 
you to kick against the goads." The idea 
was that something: was urging him from 
within to accept Christ, and his own will 
power would not consent to do so. It is 
probable that while he was in school in Jeru- 
salem the first time he had the opportunity 
to see Jesus personally, for he must have 
been about the same age as Jesus since he 
speaks of himself as an old man about 66 
A. D. It was while in school the first time 
he witnessed the death of Stephen which, 
no doubt, made a lasting impression upon 



266 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 



him. Returning at a later period to Jerusa- 
lem he took his seat in the Sanhedrin and lat- 
er secured a warrant to arrest Christians 
in Antioch. There were, no doubt, many 
in Jerusalem whom he might have arrested, 
but God used this opportunity to introduce 
him in a spiritual way to Jesus, and he be- 
came a Christian in Damascus, but feeling 
called to preach at the same time he was 
converted he went into Arabia and re- 
mained in spiritual preparation for three 
years, when he returned and opened up his 
first ministry in Damascus, the city of his 
conversion. Being persecuted, Barnabas 
could s^ntnpathize with him as being in the 
same class with him, and tried to incline the 
apostles to trust Paul, but they w^ent pretty 
slowly along that line, and Paul went on 
back home; but the e\ddence points to the 
fact that he was not idle, for his native prov- 
ince of Cilicia appears to have been evangel- 
ized at a very early date, and this is, no 
doubt, the time it began. Paul seems to have 
been pretty m.uch in the condition of a high- 
ly educated preacher among our people. He 
found it hard to get a church or other suit- 
able work under influential auspices. But 
when Barnabas carried him to Antioch thev 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 267 

both shared the pastorate, for both were 

pretty much out of touch with the religious 
methods of their race, and wanted more 
Bible study among Christians. After or- 
ganizing the teaching work of the church, 

the Holy Spirit impressed the church to let 
Paul and Barnabas go on a mission work 
to the Jews in Asia Minor. This caused 
the first journey of Paul which included 
the island of Cyprus, and points in Pisidia 
and Galatia, and return home. A crisis 
had arisen in their mission work when their 
own people refused to allow them to preach 
in the synagogues because of their doc- 
trines. They prom.ptly arranged to preach 
elsewhere— to mixed audiences of Jews and 
gentiles, and many gentiles were converted 
as well as Jews. A question arose as to 
what should be the attitude of a gentile as 
to Jewish cerem.onialism, and what ought 
to be required of them by the churches. 
When the matter was about to divide the 
church at Antioch, the whole question was 
referred to the apostles and church at Jeru- 
salem, where it was finally decided after 
full consideration that only four require- 



268 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

ments ought to be made of gentiles so far 
as Jewish ceremonialism was concerned, 
namely, "That ye abstain from meats of- 
fered to idolSj from blood, and from things 
strangled, and from fornication: from 
which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do 
w^ell.*' Acts 15 :29. Here was the time and 
place when it was decided that the miatter 

of obser\ang Saturday as the Jewish Sab- 
bath was not binding upon gentile Chris- 
tians, for nothing was made binding but 
what is here stated. 

Paul afterward started on a second jour- 
ney with Silas, visiting in Galatia and Asia, 
and on this trip he made up his mind to 
carry the Gospel into Macedonia and Greece, 
and wrote I and II Thessalonians at Corinth 
about 52 A. D., speaking in the first of the 
early return of Christ to the world, but in 
the second correcting some misunderstand' 
ing in the first. The second coming of 
Christ was believed by the Jews to be a 
great display of power and even the s^^lop' 
tics shared that ^"iew, and so does Paul in 
the early part of his ministry. Returning 
to Ephesus, he goes to Jerusalem and at- 
tends a feast and also distributes the con- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 269 

tributions which he had raised in the 
churches for the saints. He afterward re- 
turns to Antioch and then started out on 
another journey carrying several persons 
with him. He goes directly to Ephesus 
where he remained two years, stirred up 
the place, and made many disciples, but he 
decided to leave after the mob exhibition, 
first writing I Corinthians to the church at 
Corinth. Going through Macedonia, he 
wrote H Corinthians from that country, and 
in the first letter he taught that Christian- 
ity lies not in what you believe only, but in 
how you live. He then went on to Corinth. 
In the first letter he had strongly written 
against a certain immoral leader in the 
church at Corinth advising his dismissal 
In the second epistle he defends his own 
claims to the apostleship which had been 
called in question at Corinth. 

While at Corinth he wrote Galatians as 
a protest to the treatment he had received 
in Galatia, and explaining that we are no 
longer under the law of Moses. He writes 
out this position at greater length in anoth- 
er letter he wrote about the same time to 
the Romans. He then starts on the return 



270 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

journey home by Ephesus and Jerusalem, 
but he was arrested in Jerusalem and tried, 
but carried to Caesarea to protect him 
from a mob. He stood trial there twice and 
finally appealed his case to Rome to which 
place he was carried with a large number 
of other prisoners. They had a hard voy- 
age but no life was lost, as he predicted, 
and he finally was made a prisoner in his 
own hired house in Rome where he met rep- 
resentatives of the church in Rome and 
tried to impress his doctrines upon them 
without success. He is supposed to have 
been released after the first trial when he 
again took up mission work in Macedonia 
and other parts, but was imprisoned 
a second tim.e when he is supposed to have 
suffered martyrdom. While in prison the 
first time, he seem.s to have written E^hes- 
ians, Philippians, Colossians, and Phile- 
mon. After the first imprisonment he 
wrote I Timothy, Titus anrl Hebrews, if he 
really wrote the latter. When in prison 
the second tim.e he wrote II Timothy. Paul 
shov/ed us in detail how the Old Testament 
really prefigured many things that Jesus 
did not stop to explain in detail. Paul was 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 271 

deeply learned in the Scriptures, and his 
arguments were enough to convince the 
Jews, but, as he says, their minds were 
blinded. But Paul further knew just how 
to present Christ to the gentile mind. In 
his early epistle he is combative in his atti- 
tude, and contrasts the teaching of Jesus 
with Moses. But in the letters to the mixed 
churches, which he wrote later, he pre- 
sented Christ upon a universal rather than 
a racial basis. The Pauline epistles large- 
ly shaped the doctrines of the early 
churches, and his epistles develop the idea 
of the church rather than the broader idea 
of the kingdom, because they were written 
to churches to help them to make good. Be- 
low is given a list of the epistles of Paul and 
their classifications and Key words. 

THE TIME OF THE EPISTLES 

Paul's Second Mission Journey. 

I Thessalonians 52 A. D.I 

> Corinth 
II Thessalonians 53 J 

On Third Journey. 

I Corinthians 56 Ephesus 

II Corinthians 57 Macedonia 



272 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 



Gallatians 
Romans 



Ephesians 
Philippians 
Colossians 
Philemon 



Titus 

I Timothy 

Hebrews 



V 58 Corinth 
During First Imprisonment. 

Rome 63 

After First Imprisonment. 

64 Macedoniai 
(?) 



During Second Imprisonment. 

II Timothy 66 Rome 

KEY WORDS PAULINE EPISTLES. 



Romans — Salvation by faith. 

I Corinthians — Christian living 

II Corinthians — Paul's apology 

Galatians — Salvation by faith 

Ephesians — Doctrine of grace ) 
Philippians — Joy in service. !- 
Colossians — "Christ is all." ) 



Anti-Judaic 



Cliristological 



I Thessalonians 
II Thessalonians 



Second coming Eschatolo^cal 



I Timothy — Church order ) 

II Timothy — Personal holiness r 
Titus — Church Order ) 



Pastoral 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 273 

Philemon — Fraternity Personal 

Hebrews— Christ in Jewish Anti-Judaic 

ceremonaes 

KEY WORDS— GENERAL EPISTLES. 

James — Salvation by work. ! 

I Peter — Christ the hope of the Jews. 
II Peter — Apostasy. 

I John — Eternal life. i 

II John— Truth. i 

III John — Hospitality. 

Jude — Apostasy. \ 

QUESTIONS AND HAND WORK. 

1. What is meant by the gift of tongrues? 

2. What were the apostles doing: during: their wait of 

ten days before Pentecost? 

3. Who was pastor of the church? 

4. Who was Simon Magus? 

5. Write out an account of Stephen's death. 

6. Who was Barnabas? 

7. How many missionary journeys of Paul? 

8. Write an account of the substance of each epistle. 

9. Diagram the place and time of writing of each 
epistle. 

10. Give key words for the general epistles. 



Sig.— 10. 



XXVII. 

AN EXPOSITION OF CHRISTIANITY, 

OR 
APOSTOLIC INTERPRETATION OF 

JESUS. 

This subject indicates what we are to ex- 
pect and what we are to learn from our 
study of both the Pauline and the general 
epistles. Christ's teachings were directed 
at the hypocrisy, and superficiality, and 
formality, and unspirituality of the religion 
and the religious leaders of his race and 
his time, to a large extent. But at the same 
time he gave us a positive and constructive 
system of truth which he himself designated 
the Kingdom of Heaven. He does not in so 
many words explain what is fully implied 
in the kingdom doctrines, but he gives us 
sufficient information in parables and meta- 
phors to distinguish this from all other 
systems of truth, and especially to distin- 
jruish his teachings from those of Moses. 

(275) 



276 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

There never was such a teacher as Jesus 
Christ, and it is safe to predict there nevei 
will be another until he himself comes back 
for the second coming and stresses this same 
fact. Jesus came to stir up men's think- 
ing, feeling and willing powers and to de- 
velop the ; human personality. He told us 
outright only a small part of what he taught 
us, but he led us to think out for ourselves 
the things he desired us to know. He led 
us up to the point where we could do the 
rest; and the best possible preparation for 
teaching is to study and learn how Jesus 
taught, instead of studying to find "teach^ 
iing values'' in the account of his life, we 
']|iad better study Jesus himself. The result 
of such method on the part of this Master 
Teacher is that he himself wrote no treat- 
ise or book outlining the principles of the 
kingdom, but on the other hand, he pre- 
ferred a class of anxious seekers after truth 
as the best way to both teach and develop 
the doctrine of the kingdom. Christ gave 
oiily fundamtetal principles, and left it to 
his pupils, the apostles, to interpret and ap- 
ply his teachings as time and circumstances 
might re(^uire'. He promised them the Help- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 277 

er who would enable them to correctly rep- 
resent their Lord, and said to the believers^ 
"Greater works than these shall ye do, be- 
cause I go unto the Father/' John 14:12. 
What he doubtless means is that his own 
teachings in the hands of an apostle can be 
interpreted in terms of the life and times of 
people to come in a more helpful and prac- 
tical way, than Jesus could himself help fu- 
ture generations by teachings suited to the 
present time or to his own generation. Thus 
it comes to pass that the world has not yet 
outgrown the teachings of Jesus, and it is 
safe to say that it never will, for he laid 
broad and deep the foundation so that all 
future generations could interpret it in 
terms of their own people and time. It can be 
seen therefore that Christ must be inter- 
preted to be appreciated, just as the high 
voltage is made useful for lighting pur- 
poses by passing through a transformer. 
Christ is the high power that would put 
out of commission a small lamp because of 
-incapacity to contain his great ideas. We 
may by now have reached the point where 
we can connect up directly, but at first we 
had to use milk instead of meat. The epis- 



278 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

ties of the New Testament reduce the ,pro- 
f ound teachings of Jesus to terms that will 
be understood by the less spiritual. 

Just as Peter's method of presenting 
Christ in his teaching and preaching is help- 
ful to show us how to study the life of 
Christ, so the teachings and interpreta- 
tions in the epistles will show us where to 
place the emphasis in helping to evangelize 
the world for Jesus. 

Now as we study the epistles we shall 
find emphasis laid upon the church, upon 
morality as related to Christianity, upon 
Jesus as God, and Jesus as the fulfilment 
of the law and prophecy, the relations of the 
Old and New Testaments, the difference be- 
tween grace and law, Christ in the ceremo- 
nial law, the second coming, the new birth, 
and the allegorical method of interpreta- 
tion. In another place in this book the key 
words of the epistles are given embodying 
the outstanding impression or teaching. 

Romans shows that law is universal 
whether revealed in the Scripture or by 
nature, and that law could never save the 
man, and that all men had to acknowledge 
the need of a better way to be saved, for 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 27» 

the law was only intended to reveal sin and 
God's attitude to it, and Jesus alone 
can rescue us from sin, and he does this by 
our placing faith in him so as to do as he 
directs us, and the Spirit gives the power to 
make good. Galatians is a shorter form of 
the same argument, but adapted more to 
the Jewish point of view, and we are shown 
that the Jew had outgrown the law as a 
system of truth. 

I Corinthians squarely commits Chris- 
tianity to moral reform and the social or- 
der, and in II Corinthians Paul takes us 
into his confidence and unfolds the trials 
and spiritual experiences of an apostle, and 
in both epistles the church is uppermost in 
his mind. The word church is found 62 
times in these epistles, and the word king- 
dom comes only 14 times, showing that the 
church must go ahead of the kingdom, as 
Christ himself gave the keys of the king- 
dom to the church as if he says, admittance 
to the kingdom must come by way of 
the church. If John had not written 
Revelation we should still be without 
any adequate interpretation of the kingdom 
around which all the teachings of Jesus 



280 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

centered, the word being found in the Gos- 
pels 117 times, although the word church 
occurs only three times in the Gospels. 
There seems to be some difference between 
Paul's idea of the kingdom and John's, to 
say nothing of Christ's, for Paul seemed to 
regard the kingdom as the end itself. In I 
Cor. 15:24-28, we read: "Then cometh the 
end when he shall deliver up the kingdom 
of God, even the Father; when he shall have 
abolished all rule, all authority, and all 
power. For he must reign, till he hath put 
all his enemies under his feet. The last 
enemy that he shall abolish is death, for he 
put all things in subjection under his feet. 
But when he saith, all things are put in sub- 
jection, it is evident that he is excepted who 
did subject all things unto him, and when 
all things have been subjected unto him, 
then shall the Son also himself be subjected 
to him that did subject all things to him, 
that God may be all in all." There is no 
conflict here, but a fuller statement in one 
respect, although elsewhere in the Bible we 
are to find its fullest interpretation, nota- 
bly in Revelation. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 281 

Ephesians is a treatment of the doctrine 
of grace from a gentile standpoint^ show- 
ing us what incalculable blessings come^tp 
us through the death and sufferings of Je- 
sus. The doctrine of grace is explained and 
amplified without a comparison with the 
law of Moses, but is advocated upon its own 
merits as an uplift to the world. 

Philippians discourses on the joy of serv- 
ice for the Master and is projected upon the 
same broad lines as Ephesians. 

Colossians presents Christ as the sum 
total of divine inspiration and treats the 
subject both for Jew and gentile. 

I and II Thessalonians stress the second 
coming of Christ, showing that Paul in his 
earlier years spoke strongly on this sub- 
ject. PauFs Jewish training shows itself 
in the spectacular idea of the second com- 
ing as popular Jewish thought conceived of 
it more than in any other of his teachings. 
John's idea of the second coming in Reve- 
lation rather impresses the stupendous 
changes that follow the second coming. 

I Timothy teaches proper church order, 
pnd II Timothy stresses personal holiness 
in ministers. 



282 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

Philemon stresses common brotherhood 
based on our relation to Christ and God 
as the proper relation of a master ^nd slave 
when both see Jesus as he is. 

Titus is another pastoral epistle to guide 
the shepherd in leading the flock. 

Hebrews is a remarkable book or epistle, 
and its place in the New Testament is hard- 
ly calculated to rightly impress its impor- 
tance. It seems to belong right next to 
Romans, for as Romans shows Christ as the 
perfect fulfillment of the moral law, so here 
in Hebrew, Christ is presented as the per- 
fect fulfillment of the ceremonial law, and 
the opening verses give the proper attitude 
of the Bible student toward Christ and his 
entire attitude to the Old Testament. "God 
having of old times spoken unto the fathers 
in the prophets by diverse portions and in 
diverse" manners, hath at the end of these 
days spoken unto us in his son, whom he ap- 
pointed heir of all things through whom al- 
so he made the worlds." Here is authority 
for our rejection of any prophecy at all as 
reaching over into the Christian dispensa- 
tion. All of the prophecy ended with 
Christ, and if we wish information as to the 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 283 

future, we are not to go back to Daniel, nor 
any Old Testament prophet, but we are to 
look to Jesus, and Jesus has expressed what 
he wished ^0 tell us in the book of "Revela- 
tion and through the Holy Spirit. This 
epistle is deeply spiritual, and we are not 

concerned with who wrote it since it is 
sealed by the Spirit. 

James is said to be the most unspiritual 
of all the epistles, and yet that depends 
on how spiritually we approach the book, 
If we approach it reverently, we shall come 
away with a blessing. He is exceedingly 
practical, and his morality is more impres* 
sive than his spirituality. 

I and II Peter stress the importance of 
prophecy as revealing Christ as our Savior, 
and points us to the Bible as the source of 
spiritual life. Peter breathes a beautiful 
spirit in both epistles. 

I John shows how to come into the new 
life, eternal life, and gives us pointed evi^ 
dence of the new birth, and finds love as the 
full expression of the Christian life. 

II John stresses truth, and III John hos- 
pitality, and Jude is a warning against 
backsliding. 



284 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

Since the apostles' interpretation of 
Christianity is largely given in a preceding 
chapter under the caption of The Teachings 
of Jesus, the reader is referred tp fchat chap- 
ter and requested to study it in connec- 
tion with this lesson. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is our outstanding difference between the 
teachings of Paul and Jesus? 

2. Why is this difference? 

3. State the points made emphatic in PauPs epistle. 

4. Give the brief teaching of each epistle. 

5. What is the teaching of Romans? 



■I XXVIII. 

THE BOOK OF REVELATION, 

OR 
THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN, i 

OR u 

THE FINAL TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS. 

Revelation is the crowning work of the 
Bible. We are to distinguish apocalyptic 
from prophetical writings. Prophecy tellg 
directly about the future, but apocalypse 
only presents pictures for us ourselves to 
interpret. Revelation is an apocalypse. It is 
last in the Bible because we shall need to 
know all that goes before to understand 
and appreciate it. But fortunately we are 
not required to understand it if only we 
will keep the things that are written therein. 
(1:3.) Westcott and Horte tell us there 
are nearly five hundred quotations in word 
or thought, in Revelation from other books 
in the Bible. 

The book shows the triumph of the cross 

7 (285) 



286 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

results in the establishment of the Kmg- 
dom of Heaven on earth, and this makes an 
entirely new place of the earth. The book 
is supposed to have been written about a 
year before Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 
A. D. A part of the book, no doubt, re- 
fers to that event, but there are other parts 
that seem to point to our own times. Bible 
Scholars now believe there are several com- 
ings when Christ will return. He, no doubt, 
came at the destruction of Jerusalem for 
that event largely destroyed organized Jew- 
ish opposition to Christ. If Christ inter- 
preted John the Baptist as fully answering 
to the coming of Elias in the w^orld, as in 
Matt. 11:14, surely we will be allowed to in- 
terpret his own second coming in the same 
way. 

OUTLINE. 



Chapter 1.— Christ in ^lory. 

Chapter 2-3 — Messalges to the seven churches. 

Chapter 4-5. — ^The throne of God and the Lamb. 

Chapter 6-7— The seven seals. 

Chapter 8-11— The seven trumpets. 

Chapter 12— The woman, her child, and the dragon. 

Chapter 13 — ^The two beasts. 

Chapter 14— The true Latnb and angels of judg- 
ment. 

Chapter 15-16 — Seven vials of wrath. 

Chapter 17— rThe woman in scarlet. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 287 

Chapter 18 — The angel's lamentation over Baby- 

lon. 
Chapter 19 — Second Coming of Christ. 

Chapter 20— The Millenium. 

Chapter 21-22— The Kingdom. 

The kingdom, so near the heart of Christ, 
is not spoken of extensively and fully de- 
veloped in the New Testament after 
Christ^s ascension until John gave us this 
wonderful book. This is a book rather to 
be felt than understood. ' 

The key to the spiritual interpretation 
of this book lies in the peculiar way John 
uses the word "heaven." He does not use it 
in the sense of the final abode of the saints, 
but he uses it in the same sense as indi- 
cated in II Corinthians 12 :2, by the expres- 
sion "third heaven'' or in verse 3, "para- 
dise." Paul tells us that he received a won- 
derful revelation in this third heaven which 
John styles simply "heaven," and in Reve- 
lation 4:2 he tells us he was in the spirit. 
Christ died in humiliation, but John now 
sees him in glory, not dead but very much 
alive and in the midst of the churches. In 
the vision of the seven seals he sees the need 
and mission and success of Christ on earth. 
In the vision of the seven trumpets he tells 



288 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

of God putting th(B world on notice of com- 
ing judgment which seems to have been per- 
fectly fulfilled in the World war. 

1st Trumpet— Shot and shell in the war. 

2nd I'rumpet— The submarine campai^. 

3'rd Trumpet— The Kaiser's fall. 

,.4th Trumpet — ^Dark days to follow war. 
' 5th Trumpet— The flying machine campaign. 
gi6th Trumpet — The war on land. 

.7th Trumpet— The old world passes — old order of 
r^'v . ;i . . : . things. 

i ■ - 

ii This is not strained, but the only thor- 
oughly reasonable application, for nothing 
0ver happened in all of the pages of the 
world's history that so completely answers 
John's description of each trumpet. All 
of which should teach us that our God is 
marching on, and we must nerve ourselves 
f 01* the great battle of Armageddon when 
the final conflict will be staged between 
Christ and his opposers, i. e., the dragon, 
the beast and the false prophet, all of whom 
defeat the purpose of Jesus. John was 
told that he must preach some more before 
the end, preach both the Old and New 
Testament, two witnesses, but that the 
b^^st would prevail at first, but God would 
0M success in the end. Then in the lltti 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 289 

chapter organized opposition to Christ in 
the Jewish race comes to an end with the 
destruction of Jerusalem. 

Now in the 12th chapter he takes us back 
to the birth of Jesus showing that the 
spiritual element in the Jewish Church, 
represented by the woman, clothed itself 
in glory in giving the world Jesus, and this 
spiritual church was upheld by a less spirit- 
ual church, the Jewish Church. Satan tries 
to destroy Jesus who was caught up to 
heaven, and then he goes after the woman, 
the Christian Jews, but the church flew to 
the wilderness where in the catacombs it 
was marvelously preserved by God through- 
out the long period of persecution, i. e., the 
great tribulation which John speaks of as 
forty-two months, and also three and one* 
half days, and also twelve hundred and six- 
ty days, all of which expressions refer to 
the three and one-half years of the unful-. 
filled seventy weeks of Dan. 9:24-27, left 
over of the sufferings of Jesus. Then in the 
13th chapter he sees the great conflict of 
Christianity with the blasphemous Caesars 
who demanded that their subjects worship 
them as God, the one with a wounded head 



290 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

referring to Nero who lost his mind. This 
dynasty is the beast with ten horns and 
seven heads. The beast on the land like a 
lamb with the two horns and a voice like 
the first beast refers to the religious lead- 
ers of the Romish Church which represented 
the religion of the Roman empire, the wor- 
ship of the emperor. Then John shows us 
the true Lamb, or true religion, by showing 
us a picture of Christ and his great follow- 
ing. God is show^n to be so displeased with 
the blasphemy of these religious leaders 
that he pours out seven vials of wrath, and 
the last one was poured in the air and a 
voice w^as heard to say "It is done." Aft- 
erward John said one of the angels, pour- 
ing out God's wrath, took him to show him 
the cause of God's displeasure, and he went 
into the wilderness where the church was 
and saw a "woman clothed in scarlet, sit- 
ting upon a scarlet colored beast full of 
names of blasphemy, having seven heads 
and ten horns, and the woman was drunk- 
en with the blood of the saints." This clear- 
ly refers to the early Christian Church sell- 
ing the honor of Jesus for filthy gain, the 
Roman Catholic Church as corrupted by 



HOW TO TEACH AND STUDY THE BIBLE. 291 

the Romish Church. But John is assured 
the end is in sight, and an angel sings a 
funeral dirge ahead of time on account of 
the certainty of God's vengeance upon such 
sinful so-called Christians. Then Christ 
comes in chapter 19, and with his endless 
army puts to route these combined enemies 
to the cross, the sorry preacher, the man 
that resorts to physical force, and the man 
that leads the government to persecute the 
church. Then in chapter 20 the Millenium 
comes, the dead come back, no doubt, in in- 
fluence, and join with Christ in a great cam- 
paign of evangelization without organized 
opposition for a period of a thousand years, 
which time seems to have already expired, 
for Satan is doubtless loose in the world 
right now, but thank God only for a little 
season. The world is right now sitting in 
judgm.ent upon the merits of the teaching 
of the peaceable principles of the Prince of 
Peace, and in the 20th chapter the great day 
of judgment comes when the decision will 
be rendered in favor of Jesus, and the op- 
posing conspiracy can no longer mislead 
the world. There will come the time when 
men will adopt the principles of the King- 



292 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

dom of Heaven, and a perfect social order 
will be established on earth, founded upon 
a deep spirituality, for the New Jerusalem 
is watered by a pure river of the water of 
life. In chapter 19 John identifies Christ 
with the word, and this teaches that to 
know and live the Bible is to know and co- 
operate with Jesus. And now in the last 
chapter we are taught that the open Bible 
in the hearts of God's people will lead to 
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in pow- 
er on earth to such an extent that the suc- 
cess and perpetuity of the kingdom can be 
fully guaranteed for all time. Let us all 
join with John in praying for this blessed 
consummation. "Even so, come Lord 
Jesus.'' 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What special contribution does the book of Revelia- 
tion make to the understanding" of Jesus? 

2. When was it probably wi'itten? 

3. Give outline analysis of book? 

4. What part of the book refers to God's judgment 
upon the Jews? 

5. What part to his judgment upon Roman Catholi- 
cism ? 

6. What seems to be the significance of the seven 
trumpets ? 

7. What chapter describes the kingdom? 

8. Why should we study Revelation ? 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 293 

9. Does any Old Testament prophecy re^h over to 

our times? . -o i 

10. "What is the present outlook according to iievela- 

tion? 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

1. The Teachings of Jesus G. B. Stevens. 

2. The Social Teachings of Jesus Shailer Mathews. 

3. The Life of Jesus of Nazareth Rush Rhees. 

4. The Twentieth Century N. T. 

5. The Place of Christ in Modern Theology— Fairbain. 

6. Kings and Prophets of Israel Kent. 

7. Founders and Rulers of Israel —Kent. 

8. Heroes and Crises of Early Hebrew History. _Kent. 

9. A History of the Hebrew People (2 vol.) --Kent. 

10. A History of the Hebrew People Kent. 

11. A History of the Jewish People Riggs. 

12. A History of thet Jewish People James Orr. 

13. Problems of the Old Testament 

14. Paul's Conception of Christianity 

15. Pauline Theoltogy Stevens. 

16. Book of Genesis Dodd. 

17. Class Book of Old Testament History Hodges. 

18. Prophetical Books of Old Testament Pidge. 

19. The Great Teacher of Judaism and Chris- 
tianity Kent. 

20. The Sunday School Teacher's Bible Musselman. 

21. Stevens and Burton's Harmony of the Gospel 

22. A Harmony of Samuel; Kings, and Chroni- 

cles — — — — Crockett. 

23. Four Centuries of Silence Redford. 

24. Stanley's Jewish Church (3 volumes) 

25. Josephus 

26. Baldwin's Prehistoric Races 

27. Origin of Nations Rawlinson. 

28. Broader Bible Study Patterson. 

29. Biblical Study Augustus Briggs. 



294 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

30. New Light on Life of Christ Au^stus Bri^^. 

31. Higher Criticism of the Pentateuch 

Rowland. 

32. The Pentateuch Rowland. 

33. Student's Life of Christ Gilbert. 

34. The Student's Life of Jesus Gilbert. 

35. Life of Paul Stalker. 

36. The Epistles of Paul the Apostle Findlay. 

37. The General Epistles Bennett 



PART III. 

THE TEACHER. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Quotation from Rein. 

1. The Personality of the Teacher. 

2. Authority in Teaching. 

3. Essentials of Real Teaching. 

4. Methods of Teaching. 

5. The Teacher and His Mastery of the Lesson. 

6. The Teacher's Preparation. 

7. The Teacher's Lesson Plan. 

8. Attention. 

9. The Use of the Question. 

10. Self-actdvity or Hand Woyk. 

11. The Memory. 

12. The Will. 

13. The Feelings. 
Bibliography. 



THE PERSONALITY OF THE TEACHER 

EXERTS THE MOST POWERFUL 

SILENT INFLUENCE. 

• 

"One may say, in fact, that the entire educa- 
tional centre of gravity lies in the personality of 
the teacher. If he is candid and true, conscien- 
tious and competent, consistent and just, if he 
has command of himself in all situations and in 
all cases, if he is neither malicious nor Inclined 
to anger — in short, if he is a complete man, the 
dark forces cannot thrive in the community of 
the school. Thus, it becomes clearly evident that 
it would be a foolish undertaking to attempt an 
ethical education merely with the aid of instruc- 
tion. The character of the teacher, his example 
in judging and acting, his conduct in doing and 
permitting, are of such great significance that 
even the most carefully devised method is unable 
to remove or balance the errors and defects in 
the personality of the educator. Uninterrupted- 
ly and unintentionally, as Ziller has shown, the ex- 
ample of the educator exerts either an elevating 
or a depressive influence upon the inner life of 
each individual pupil. The silent force of his in- 
fluence is almost as important as the force of those 
relations under whose combined effect ethical per- 
sonality develops; hence, it surely is not sur- 
passed by the formative influence of the instruc- 
tion, in so far as the will and the disposition of 
the pupil are concerned. This appreciation of 
the force of personality, however, should produce 
neither an undervaluation of methodical practice 
nor a contem_pt for all pedagogical reflections ; on 
the contrary, the two factors are of equal value." 

—REIN. 



I. 

THE TEACHER'S PERSONALITY. 

We read much about the personality of 
the pupil, but not enough about the person- 
ality of the teacher. Just as no two pupils 
are alike by nature, and this personal dif- 
ference should be respected and cultivated 
for the highest ends, so no two teachers are 
naturally alike, and the personal difference 
is as significant here as in the case of the 
pupil. What one teacher cannot do with 
a pupil another one can do, though the 
equipment may be equal. The personality 
makes the difference. The Sunday school 
teacher should be the right sort of person 
to get results, and he should possess a pleas- 
ing and winning, together with a decided 
personality. More will depend upon what 
kind of a person he is than upon 
what he actually knows. This is the old 
time idea, and it is right, and especially 

(299) 



300 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

when we think of spiritual values. The 
teacher should be a Christian whose person- 
ality has been influenced by Jesus Christ 
through the Holy Spirit. The greatest 
work of any teacher is through his spirit 
rather than his intellect, and the teacher's 
spirit is imparted to his pupils, and the 
spirit controls the thoughts and feelings 
and will. Tep,ching in its last analysis is 
inspiring the pupil to think and do for him- 
self. Teaching is inspiration, and the 
teacher must be a person able to inspire 
another, and inspiration is spiritual. Here 
in America there are thousands of teachers 
in day schools and colleges who boast of 
their indifference to spiritual things, and 
our government is most unfortunately com- 
mitted to the policy of exclusion of the Bible 
from public school instruction. As a result, 
America is suffering from the need of real 
teachers in our^ great universities and col- 
leges as well as lower schools, because of the 
lack of the spiritual element in the teach- 
er's preparation. Too many teachers are 
mere tutors, and fail to inspire and impress 
-their personalities upon their pupils. A 
teacher's personality should be such as to 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 301 

cause his pupils to desire to be like him, and 
as he comes before his class from time to 
time they learn him as well as what 
he teaches. The outstanding cause of the 
sad truth that the great majority of Sun- 
day school scholars fail to enter the church 
is the fact that the teacher's personality 
is not what it should be. Religion has not 
left its marks upon him, and he does not 
know enough about the personality of Jesus 
to affect his own. What we need is Sun- 
day school teachers that have the spirit of 
Jesus, and whose lives are under the con- 
trol of the Holy Spirit. Teacher training 
itself will utterly fail in the future, as it 
has already failed to bring desired results 
in so many cases, unless the emphasis 
is placed more upon the spiritual than the 
mental preparation for service. Too much 
is said about psychology and too little about 
the Holy Spirit, with the result that in some 
quarters the Sunday schools are of little 
help to the churches. Without encourag- 
ing laziness and indifference, it is neverthe- 
less true that the training in true disciple- 
ship is the best training for teaching serv- 
ice. The Bible trains for discipleship, and 



302 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

the Bible is the Sunday school teacher's best 
teacher training book. Let the teacher aim 
to be what he wishes his pupils to become, 
and his actions will speak louder than his 
words. 

It has been truly said that teaching is a 
mental process by which the mind of the 
teacher comes in vital touch with the mind 
of the pupil. A teacher cannot produce in 
the learner a given experience, without 
having first produced in himself the same 
experience. If the teacher wishes his pu- 
pil to love his country, he must him.self be 
deeply moved by patriotism. If he wishes 
his pupils to have race consciousness, he 
must first be alive himself to the sam.e f eel- 
insr. The teacher actually builds his own 
life again into that of his pupil, and it is 
absolutely essential that he himself should 
be all that he expects his pupil to become. 
The quality of a teacher's life is a part of 
his professional equipment. His pupil will 
hardly rise above the teacher's life through 
the same teacher's teaching. He can only 
rise in spite of his teacher. It is useless to 
scold and quarrel with the pupils. 

It is the personal touch of the teacher 
with the pupil that does the work, and 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 303 

makes all the difference. Elijah knew this 
in keeping Elisha with him all the time. 
Our Lord knew this, and scouted the idea 
of writing, and brought the twelve in close 
personal touch and knew afterward what 
results had been wrought, and to such an 
extent that he entrusted his cause and the 
work of the kingdom to the care of his apos- 
tles. Feeling plays a very controlling part 
in all real teaching, and feeling is best rep- 
resented in personal touch. The successful 
teacher puts his feelings into his teachings, 
and feelings are closely related to spirit. 
The feelings of the teacher work upon the 
feelings of the pupil, and thus influence the 
thinking process and the will power of the 
learner. It is not true only in religious 
teaching that the personality of the teach- 
er is of so great significance, but it is true 
in all real teaching. A real teacher dupli- 
cates himself in his pupils ; no, he does not 
duplicate himself only, but he. so inspires and 
influences his scholar as to cause him not 
only to be like himself, but even more than 
he himself is. A teacher is not fit to teach 
unless he has faith in the pupiFs ability to 
becom.e as much as he is. A teacher who 



304 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 



regards that a pupil's race identity makes 
him so inferior that he can never measure 
up to his teacher is a misfit and nothing less 
than an imposition upon the scholar. Such 
a teacher does not plan his teaching upon 
the broad principles of pedagogy, but he 
regards that all the scholar needs is such a 
training as will fit him for his place in life, 
that place to suit the program of race prej- 
udice. There are abroad a number of our 
leaders trained under such so-called teach- 
ers, who to this blessed day are more pos- 
sessed with the conviction of the inferiori- 
ty of their own people than they are in- 
spired with hope for the future of their 
own race group. There has been much 
money almost wasted by well meaning phi- 
lanthropists because they insisted that the 
teacher should come from a certain group 
regardless of special qualifications for 
reaching our group. These philanthropists 
mean well, but their money is not bringing 
the results. The best teacher of a people 
is one identified with the people. Moses 
said in Deuteronomy 18:15: "The Lord thy 
God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 305 

the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like un- 
to me, unto him shall ye hearken," referring 
to the coming of Jesus, the seed of the wom- 
an. 

The great educator, Froebel, said: 
"The purpose of teaching and instruction is to 
bring out of man rather than put more and more 
into him ; for that which we can get into man we 
already know and possess as the property of man- 
kind, and every one, simply because he is a }m-. 
man being, will unfold and develop it out of him- 
self in accordance with the laws of mankind. On 
the other hand, what yet is to come out of man- 
kind, what human nature is yet to develop, that 
we do not yet know that is not yet the property 
of mankind, and still human nature, like the 
spirit of God, is ever unfolding its inner essence.'^' 

This quotation is very significant, coming 
as it does from the world's foremost apostle 
of the new education— that grips present 
day thought. 

A teacher must himself be what he wishes 
his pupil to be, and should come from the 
same race group, if possible, so as to fur- 
ther inspiration. A teacher must have a 
lively faith in the future of a people or he 
cannot be what he should to the pupil rep- 
resenting such a people. Modern educa- 
tional methods stress education as evolu- 

Sig.— 11. 



306 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

tion, the unfolding of the pupiFs own self- 
activity, and self-respect and self-confidence 
are essential to the proper results. The fact 
is that the mind itself so unfolds itself under 
proper conditions that a teacher's method 
could almost be dispensed with altogether, 
provided always that his personality func- 
tions as it should, inspiring the pupil to 
self -activity. The great need of any peo- 
ple is real teachers of marked personality 
and right spirit. It was as a teacher that 
our Lord and Master came to restore hu- 
manity to the divine image, for the world 
will always be in the hands of master teach- 
ers, who can make it what they will. The 
world is just beginning to understand Je- 
sus, and there is no doubt whatever of his 
ultimate success. But Jesus must have 
teachers who are on fire, like the early apos- 
tles, and Sunday school teachers can fill 
the bill, if they pay the price. Keep close 
to Jesus, and keep close to your pupils. All 
of this is so true that one is surprised it has 
not received greater emphasis in denomina- 
tional teacher training books. And what 
this means is that even if the present teach- 
ers in. the Sunday schools are not fully pre- 
pared to do the work, and even if they are 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 307 

not prepared to get the full benefit in tak- 
ing a teacher^s course, such teachers have 
already done much good, and can do much 
better work, if they will study the Bible and 
seek to live the life, and love the pupils and 
others so ardently as to be on fire to lead 
them to Christ. If a teacher is only true 
and clean and consecrated and studious, 
his personality will make up for any defi- 
ciencies in large measure. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is meant by personality? 

2. How does a teacher's personality show itself? 

3. How does it effect the teaching'? 

4. What part does feeling play in teaching? 

5. What argument is advanced, showing why a teacher 
ought to be of the same group as a pupil? 

6. Write down Froebel's quotation in the lesson. 

7. Give notable example of the inspiration that domes 
of personality. 



II. 

AUTHORITY IN TEACHING. 

• 

Next to the teacher's personality comes 
the authority of the teacher, and, indeed, 
both are closely associated. Authority is 
the mark of a true teacher, and this is what 
first attracted the attention to Jesus as a 
teacher, and this is what still holds him as 
the Master Teacher of all time. 

Authority comes from certain and defi- 
nite knowledge in teaching, truth respond- 
ing to truth, so that the proof is evident 
from the facts in the case, and reference is 
made to truth itself as authority instead 
of referring to some great person. We 
have all read what Luke said of Jesus : "The 
people were astonished at his doctrine : for 
he taught them as one having authority, 
and not as the scribes." In other words, 
Jesus knew, and he knew that he knew, and 
his teaching was fresh and attractive. 

irFH! '■" 'i ' ■ ; ' (309) 



310 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

There is a class of people who regard it 
as a crime to say anything in religion that 
has not already been said, and to teach the 
Bible in any other than the usual uninter- 
esting way of others, unmindful of Mat- 
thew 13 :51, 52. 

"H^ve ye understood all these things? They say un- 
to him, Yea, Lord. Then said he unto them, Therefore 
every scribe which is instructed unto the king'dom of 
heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which 
bring-eth forth out of his treasure things new and old." 

If this passage teaches anything, it is the 
freedom of the teacher to teach what can 
be proven from the Bible itself, regardless 
of the opinion of men. The teacher should 
be a person who both investigates for him- 
self, and also thinks for himself; but he 
must be sure to investigate as well as think. 
It takes time and patience to develop such 
a teacher, and we must not wait for the de- 
velopment before beginning to teach, for 
teaching itself will help to develop him, if 
he is in earnest, and endeavors to prepare 
himself for the work. Such a person has 
a clear vision and keen insight, and fortu- 
nate indeed is the class that has such a 
teacher. To this end the memory must be 
cultivated, the proper method used in im_- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 311 

parting information in such a way that the 
pupil is able to recall and reproduce it at 
will. The lesson must get fixed in the intel- 
lect and in the feeling and in the imagina- 
tion, and this can only come from careful 
preparation in a general way, and careful 
preparation of the particular lesson to be 
taught. Teaching with authority will not 
be possible until the subject has long rested 
on both the consciousness and the subcon- 
sciousness, and time will play an important 
part. Because of this element, the lesson 
for next Sunday should be studied not lat- 
er than Monday, so that we can think and 
meditate, and pass it on to the subconscious 
area that plays so important a part in our 
mental make-up. The teacher should make 
great use of the memory, the logical mem- 
ory, and should rely upon it in teaching, 
and put both the book and all notes 
aside, and launch out boldly. In order to 
do this properly he should form the 
habit of writing down the substance of 
the lesson, and then reproducing it several 
times without notes or book, and this should 
become a habit. It may seem hard, but this 
is the cost of efficiency that will lead to au- 



312 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

thority in teaching. It will not be so hard 
after all, but will be a real pleasure pro- 
vided our real interests be along spiritual 
lines. What the teacher needs is expressed 
in the lines : 

"More love to thee, Oh! Christ, 
More love to thee." 

A great transformation is needed to be 
wrought in the teacher who lacks interest 
in the spiritual things of God, and he must 
needs be — 

"Born of the water and the Spirit." John 3:5. 

The great need is for a deeper consecra- 
tion, and the churches should go down on 
their knees before God to that end, for edu- 
cational work cannot take the place of the 
Spirit. 

There is so much superficial teaching, 
and a tendency to use the Sunday school 
periodicals in such a way as to weaken 
the memory and judgment and will. These 
teachers go before their classes without 
any preparation in many cases, and insuf- 
ficient preparation in most cases. They do 
not seem to realize that it is necessary to 
study the lesson, but seem to think they can 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 313 

and do buy the preparation when they pur- 
chase the periodical. They do not even 
get the lesson on the brain at all, and how 
are they to teach it? Surely, there is some- 
thing fundamentally wrong which can only 
be righted by the Holy Spirit working on 
the will and motive of such teachers. How 
little they must love the Lord and Master, 
and how much less the pupils, to do such 
shoddy work, with no effort at all to im- 
prove it. Even if an effort is made to ac- 
quaint himself with proper methods, he 
has such little initiative and originality 
that he does not apply the method proper- 
ly, for he is as much a slave to the method 
as he was formerly to the book. 

We need teachers of personality, and 
then we shall have teaching with authority. 
There are teachers of such talent who are 
not now teaching, and the pastor and super- 
intendent should be alert to discover such 
persons, and enlist them for service. Paul 
speaks of himself as using great boldness 
of speech in teaching because the vail of 
mystery had been taken away (II Cor. 3:12), 
and when the vail of the Old Testament is 
so lifted as to let us see Jesus as he is, then 
we shall be bold, and our teaching will be 



314 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

with authority. Our Lord himself taught: 

"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall' make 
you free/' John 8:32. 

Knowing will bring authority, and au- 
thority in teaching alone inspires the pupil 
to think and do for himself. Keep in close 
touch with Jesus and we shall know the 
Scriptures. This means that we should, 
first of all, believe in Jesus as our personal 
Saviour, study diligently his life in the 
Gospels by the use of Stevens and Burton's 
Harmony of the Gospels, linger in the 
studies and make extensive use of refer- 
ences in your Bible, look up everything in 
the entire Bible that teaches anything about 
Jesus, and as fast as you learn, go tell some 
one else about him. "Meditate upon these 
things and give thyself wholly to them ; that 
thy profiting may appear to all." I Tim. 
4:15. Purchase Stevens' Teachings of Jesus, 
and place more emphasis upon what Jesus 
taught than upon Strong or Pendleton. 
But in studying in Stevens' book be sure to 
verify what he says at each step by search- 
ing the Scriptures. Do not accept what 
Stevens says until you first submit it to 
critical Bible scrutiny, and when it is ac- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 315 

cepted, accept the Bible and not Stevens, 
the author being only the humble instru- 
ment in God's hands to bring you back to 
the source of all truth, for "Thy word is 
truth," said Jesus. All teaching must be with 
authority to be effective, and as most of 
our Sunday school teachers cannot take a 
teacher training course in a Bible school, 
some way must be devised by which the av- 
erage teacher may teach with authority, 
and this article aims to show this way. As 
Paul says: "Prove all things; hold fast that 
which is good," I Thess. 5:21, and this 
means conversely to hold fast only after 
proving. The aim ought to be to reach the 
point in Bible knowledge where we will not 
be dependent upon any person's word for 
facts and meaning. We should all work to 
that end. Don't be foolish. Don't try to 
speak with authority except you have made 
a thorough investigation. Search the 
Scriptures to see whether these things are 
so. Authority will come in time, if the 
right steps are taken. To begin with, be- 
come an absolute authority on some one 
fact or teaching of the Bible by thorough, 
disinterested investigation. Later on, you 
will become authority in more things. Au- 



316 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

thority begins to be respected by others in 
proportion as they see the method by which 
you reached your conclusion, and in the end 
your pupils are not the only persons who 
will rely upon your authority. But authori- 
ty ought never to take the place of proper 
method and mental process, but should in- 
spire to that end only, the pupils investi- 
gating without prejudice and unbelief. Her- 
bert Spencer has truthfully said: 

"In education the process of self-development 

should be encouraged to the fullest extent. Chil- 
dren should be led to make their own investiga- 
tion and draw their own inferences. They should 
be told as little as possible. Humanity has pro- 
gressed solely by self -instruction." 

A teacher should always have at hand in 
preparing his Sunday school lesson a Bible 
dictionary, a concordance, and a good 
Teacher's Bible that he has learned to 
properly use. 

The best means of understanding the 
spiritual meaning of the Scriptures is 
through the patient and thorough use of 
references. But the teacher must know 
more than the lesson he intends to teach. 
He should study the Bible in the light of 
the suggestions made in this book under 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 317 

the heading of the Bible, and should aim 
to secure a reserve supply of information 
which alone gives power and authority. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is authority in teaching? 

2. Upon what is authority based? •'^ 

3. What is the effect of authority in teaching-?, 

4. How may authority be developed? 

5. What goes hand in hand with authority? 

6. What educational principle brings authority? 

7. What is the vail that obscures the Old Testament? 

8. What will remove this vail? 



"Instruction will form the circle of thought, and 
education the character. The last is nothing 
without the first: herein is contained the whole 
sum of my Pedagogy."— Herbart. 



III. 

THE ESSENTIALS OF REAL TEACH- 
ING. 

In order to teach it is necessary to know 
the process by which the mind learns, for 
we are dealing with the minds of pupils. 
We should learn all to be known about the 
operation of the mind, and a good simple 
book that will be of much help is Atkin- 
son's "The Mind and How to Use It." 

The mind receives knowledge by compar- 
ing facts that are impressed through the 
senses. It is very important that the senses 
should be kept in good working order by 
training them in early childhood. The 
training of a child up to six years should 
be toward a proper development of the five 
senses — seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting 
and feeline: with the temperature and mus- 
cular side of the feelins: emphasized. 

The senses report sensations to the brain, 
and the mind gives attention, and the sen- 
sations register mental pictures of percep- 

(319) 



320 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

tion. New perceptions are compared with 
old ones, and also with previous concep- 
tions, and by the aid of the imagination new 
conceptions are formed. These new con- 
ceptions are held in the mind by memory, 
and by comparing conception with concep- 
tion; by the aid of the imagination, judg- 
ment operates upon the whole through rea- 
son and if the feelings are properly involved 
at each step, and especially in the final judg- 
ment, then the will acts, and the mind 
knows, and knows the meaning of knowing, 
and knowledge is assimilated and becomes 
a part of the mind. Such is the mental 
process of knowing. 

It can be seen that the mind can only op- 
erate upon what reaches it through the 
senses, and the intuition which is an inner 
sense not the same in all persons. If there 
is to.be clear knowledge there must be 
perceptions so that the conceptions will be 
reliable, and that means that attention 
must be fixed when the perceptions are reg- 
istered, and also when the conceptions are 
formed, and attention comes only at the 
6all of interest, and that means the inter- 
^^sstmiist be aroused, and th6 memory will 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 321 

help to retain and recall these impressions 
if interest is aroused to the point of atten- 
tion, at the time. Now the imagination be- 
gins to work, and brings up to our minds 
not the same images, but all sorts of 
changes and combinations of previous men- 
tal pictures are recalled, and reason takes 
charge and judgment is formed. Judg- 
ment itself is a process of — 

1. COMPARISON, 

2. ABSTRACTION, 

3. IDENTIFICATION, 

4. DENOMINATION, 

5. DEFINITION. 

That is to say, that to form a judgment we 
compare concept with precept and concept: 
We then abstract from each the quality 
that is common to both; we then identify 
the quality with what we have previously 
passed upon by reason; we then name the 
thing, and give it proper definition. 

From the foregoing, the teaching process 
should consist of five steps as follows : 

1. PREPARATION, 

2. , PRESENTATION, 

3. ASSOCIATION, 

4,- GENERALIZATION, 
5. APPLICATION. 



32fi HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

It matters not how we go about teaching^ 
we have not taught scientifically and effi- 
ciently unless our teaching can be resolved 
into the five steps as mentioned above. And 
it is maintained by Rein that an additional 
factor is necessary, and that is, that the pu- 
pil should be informed as to the aim or the 
object of the instruction to be imparted, so 
that he will have it in mind from the first. 

The Preparation means that the point of 
contact must first be found by v/hich the 
pupil's interest is aroused, without which 
there can be no attention, and until this 
step is properly cared for, it is useless to go 
further. 

Presentation comes with a statement of 
the facts of the lesson, first general and 
then particular, and if attention is fixed, 
the mind is impressed. 

Association is the effort of the mind to 
get a clear idea by comparing the known 
with the unknown, and all that the mind 
knows is brought to bear to give the most 
correct idea of the new truth. 

Generalization is the system by which 
the mind abstracts qualities from new 
truths and stores them by proper classifi- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 323 

cation so that it will be possible to recall 
and make use of the information thus gath- 
ered. 

Application shows the use to be made of 
the knowledge gained. The teacher will be 
able to employ the proper method when he 
knows the mental process, and since all 
knowledge begins with' perceptions, the 
teacher must adopt such methods as will 
enable the pupil to have the clearest possi- 
ble conceptions. This means that all teach- 
ing should be by objects ,as far as possible 
for all grades of pupils. But this is an ex- 
pensive and inconvenient method, and our 
next resort must be to pictures or drawings. 
Let the teacher illustrate what he means by 
drawings or diagrams. And the next best 
substitute is to centralize attention upon a 
mere dot in the blackboard, or a circle, or 
a line, and call upon the imagination to 
function to make it serve the purpose of a 
picture or a drawing or a diagram. The 
blackboard should be used at every step in 
teaching all grades, and do not write any- 
thing on the board except as it is being 
taught and right in the presence of the class. 



324 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

This will help you to secure all types of at- 
tention, and expectant attention especially. 
This mental process will also lead the 
teacher to aim most of all in teaching chil- 
dren up to six to cultivate all senses as the 
basis of correct sensations and perceptions 
in after life. This is the philosophy of the 
kindergarten, and the kindergarten means 
more to the child than mere medical inspec- 
tion. Next the imagination will receive 
proper direction in little children, for in 
early childhood it runs wild. The child is 
given to play, and the imagination is the 
play of the mind, and our teaching must de- 
velop the reason to hold imagination in 
check, and cause it to function as a creative 
faculty in later years. We pass from ob- 
jects to symbols in later childhood, and the 
reason begins to function. In adolesence 
we pass from symbols to relations and cog- 
nition. We go from concrete to abstract, 
from particular to general, and from simple 
to complex. All teaching is either induc- 
tive or deductive, the inductive is from par- 
ticular to general, and the deductive is from 
general to particular. The inductive meth- 
od is for the younger and the deductive is 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 325 

for the older pupils. There are said to be 
many methods, but the only two methods 
are the inductive and the deductive, and 
all other methods belong to the one or the 
other. The so-called object, picture, recita- 
tion, lecture, question or discussion methods 
are, after all, to be blended into noe or the 
other ofo these two methods, and any real 
teaching employs all methods in a single 
recitation or lesson. The main thing is to 
know the aim and the mental process and 
the subject, and the pupil. 

QUESTIONS. 



1. What is the means by which the mind received 
knowledg-e outside itself? 

2. What are the senses? 

3. How many senses? 

4. What is a sensation? 

5. What is perception? 

6. What is a conception? 

7. Explain the process of judgment. 

8. How many steps in the teaching* process? Name 
them. 

9. How does imagination differ from reason? 

10. Objects are best used with what pupils? 

11. What is the period for symbols? 



IV. 

METHODS OF TEACHING SUNDAY 
SCHOOL. 

There is need for some such considera- 
tion of the proper methods to employ in 
teaching and a discussion of the merits of 
each. But it must be borne in mind that 
the method depends upon the pupil. 

The Story Method is a happy and suc- 
cessful way to teach the Bible to any class 
of pupils, provided the teacher knows how 
to grade the story to the experience and 
needs of the pupil of any age. The small 
child will require only the simplest outline, 
but the maturer mind will want the story 
told in such way as to bring out the more 
difficult points and require more logical 
thought. 

The Picture Method differs from the 
story method in giving the class something 
to look at tha t will put them to thinking in 

' Z (327) 



328 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

the channel you would like to include in 
your story. 

The Object Method simply appeals more 
strongly sometimes than a picture, and the 
more so the younger the child. He will 
reach for it and handle it when quite young 
and thus the impression will be more last- 
ing, but the story must come in after all 
in the teaching process. Since the story 
method is capable of such wide use in teach- 
ing it will repay teachers to take time to 
learn to tell Bible stories. But, after all 
more time will have to be spent learning 
the facts of Bible stories than their telling, 
for it is easier to adapt a story when you 
have mastered for yourself all of its details. 
This is a most effective method of teaching, 
and that is why the Old Testament is, after 
all, principally one long interesting story so 
that we may be able to master it. There 
is no class of persons anywhere that a good 
story properly conceived and told will not 
interest. But the teacher must beware that 
simple story-telling is not, teaching, but the 
pupil must be brought up to the point where 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 329 

you would begin in such way as to lead 
aim to think and assimilate. 

The Lecture Method is not the same as 
the story method, but the latter may be in- 
cluded in the former. The lecturer is after 
imparting information whether your mind 
is methodically strengthened by it or not. 
He goes on to talk and tell it all, and saves 
his pupils embarrassment. Some good, no 
doubt, results, but this is not effective teach- 
ing. It is a method for the minds that are 
already trained, and the lecture is simply 
intended to start the pupil out thinking and 
investigating for himself along new lines. 
But everythins: depends upon how the lec- 
tures are planned and delivered. If the lec- 
turer aims to employ proper method that 
should reach the averaere person in the class 
or audience, and uses the blackboard as ^n 
obiect to illustrate his lectures, why that is 
a different method altoe^ether, since lectur- 
ing: will heir) any class. The superintendent 
should aim to employ this method to impress 
special subjects upon the assembled school 
in five minutes. 

The Manual Method is based upon the 
part we have discovered the hands play in 
what we learn. We owe very much to our 



330 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

hands and what our hands handle gets pret- 
ty close to our consciousness. This is the 
first way a child learns, by handling objects 
and everything within its reach. This is a 
method that is to be employed in a different 
way for different grades and conditions. For 
little children, some object you wish to teach 
about should be passed around so that each 
one can handle it. Or a picture should be 
printed in outlines in the Sunday school pa- 
per and quarterly, and the child ought to be 
shown and directed to color it. Later on, 
he can fill in a word that he knows is left 
out of a sentence, he knows, but is not wholly 
written out. We can have a Junior hunt 
out something and bring it to the teacher 
next Sunday, such as a fruit, a flower, or 
something. He can be given outlines to copy 
or fill out. He can be directed to repro- 
duce the map in the quarterly on the wall. 
This method is chiefly for children, but old- 
er pupils take notes and write sketches. 
This is really not a method by itself, but its 
best use is to employ it in connection with 
other methods of teaching. 

The Recitation Method is for pupils who 
have advanced to the point where they can 
concentrate their minds and commit to 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 331 

memory and reason out a proposition. This 
method cannot be employed successfully un- 
less the pupil has first studied his lesson. It 
is the method of the day school and it is all 
right, for it requires the pupil to express 
himself, and secular schools regard it so im- 
portant that study hours are provided to 
practically compel the pupil to study. 

The trouble with the Sunday school pupil 
is that there is no time to allow him to study 
after he comes to school. Some teachers 
study the lesson with the pupil in the class, 
they are going over the lesson with the pu- 
pils by reading the passage with comments. 
There are pupils and certain lessons where 
the only sensible course is to go over the les- 
son with the class, but time should be re- 
served to call upon the class before the close 
to recite what they have learned and to an- 
swer questions. This is a highly valuable 
method, and we must keep on keeping on 
until we can induce our pupils to study their 
lessons at home so as to recite them in the 
Sunday school as in the day school, and im- 
press them that quarterlies are largely 
wasted because they are not studied at home 
If some few questions are given out the pre- 



332 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

vious Sunday on next Sunday's lesson, that 
may help to interest them to study. 

The Question Method. This is not a par- 
ticular and separate method in itself, unless 
it is employed all the time to the exclusion 
of any other method as in case of Socrates 
of Athens. But while the Socratic Method 
is a most satisfactory way to draw the self- 
activity of the pupil, it is too slow and in- 
direct to be used in a Sunday school class. 
So we simply employ the question in con- 
nection with some other method. There is 
a question that is asked only to put the pu- 
pil on his guard, and to arouse attention. 
Never allow the class to answer a question 
for an individual, nor one person for anoth- 
er, nor questions that carry their own an- 
swers in the way they are put. Never ask 
a question that will not compel the pupil to 
think to answer it, nor ask one too hard to 
answer because it is beyond his knowledge. 
See to it that a question is properly an- 
swered before goins: further. Take time 
and shape the question in such way as to 
start the pupil to thinking along the right 
line. 

There is no one method of teaching, but 
successful teachers use all the methods at 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 333 

times to break monotony and arouse inter- 
est. 

Methods for Particular Grades. This chap- 
ter should not close until some suggestion 
is offered as to what method and combina- 
tion of methods ought to be employed in 
teaching the grades and who should be the 
teachers, and what kind of Bible study is 
more helpful for each grade or department. 
Following is a diagram that may prove 
helpful to furnish this information. 



TEACHING METHODS AND VALUES FOR EACH GROUP. 
^ CHILDHOOD. 

ELEMENTARY DIVISION. 



BEGINNER. 



PRIMARY 



JUNIOR 



Stories, simple, loving", Stories 



sweet. 
Objects 
Pictures 
Son^s 

Motion Songs 
Marches 



and 



Of God, His care, pro- 
tection 



'Pictures 

Color Pictures 

Texts 
Pasted Pictures in a 

book 
I Song's 
fMarehes 
I Mental Pictures 

! 

God's loving" kindness 
Love and work of 

Jesus ( 

What God desires and 

commands 



Assig'nments 
Home work 
Handwork 
Drills in memory 



Bible Books 
Life of Jesus 
Bible History and 
Geog'raphy 



ADOLESCENCE. 

SECONDARY DIVISION. 




Recitation 
Method 
Essays 
Reports 



O. T. Biography 
Life of Christ 
Christian Life 
Leaders of Israel 



Thoughtful 
Sympathetic 
Reports 

Logical Examples 
World a field for 
Christian service 



Apostolic 
Christianity 
Poetical Books 
Old and New Testa- 
ment 
Composed 



Teacher Training 
Organized Classes 
Lecture Method 
Seminar Method 
Discussion Method 
Reports 



Christian Principles 
Prophetical Study 
Jews' Religion 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 335 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Explain the story method of teaching". 

2. The picture method. 

3. The object method. 

4. The lecture method. 

5. The manual method. 

6. The recitation method. 

7. The question method. 

8. How are these methods combined for different 
grades ? 

9. Write out the chart and teaching methods. 

10. Use your influence to have school make a large 
chart for permanent place in school. 



V. 

. THE TEACHER AND HIS MASTERY 
OF THE SUBJECT. 

The next essential in the teacher is that 
he should know what he teaches. Gregory 
gives this as the first law or step in teach- 
ing. A person cannot teach what he him- 
self does not know, and he cannot even help 
the pupil to learn what he does not know. 
If there appears any exceptions to this it 
simply means that the pupil learned any 
way, in spite of his teacher. A matter 
must first be properly impressed upon a 
teacher's own mind before he can cause a 
person to understand it aright. It is often 
thouQfht that a person's ability to teach is 
a gift to impart only and that it does not 
imply that he actually understands the sub- 
ject better than others who have not the 
ability to teach. This occurs to us as a mis- 
take. The ability to teach a subject is the 
evidence that the teacher pursued the prop- 
er methods to understand it first of all for 

(337) 
Sig:,— 12. 



338 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

himself. If one goes inductively into a 
subject by logical order, he will be able to 
retrace his steps, and his expressions of 
what he knows will tally exactly with the 
impression of the subject upon his mind. 
The reason why a person is able to impart 
knowledge to others is because he actually 
understands the matter better than another 
person, that he is a person of clear percep- 
tion, who sees into and through a mat- 
ter thoroughly. The Old Testament desig- 
nated a prophet or the religious teacher 
among the Jews as a "seer" because of his 
seeing ability, his perceptive ability. This 
is true generally, but it is especially true 
as applied to spiritual matters. Jesus spoke 
of some people who have eyes and see not, 
and ears but hear not, which means they 
had no spiritual perception. Experience 
has taught that one's spiritual insight or 
perception may be quickened by suitable 
means and we are stressing this matter here 
to show that there is real help for the per- 
son that may be deficient in his ability to 
perceive or see clearly into what he studies. 
The Holy Spirit will help the Sunday school 
teacher to clearer perception of the word 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 339 

of God the more we apply ourselves to the 
study. This is shown by the fact that when- 
ever we read the Bible again we always dis- 
cover something that we had not discovered 
before. This is the Spirit enabling us more 
and more to perceive of spiritual truth. 
We understand a matter better as we yield 
ourselves to the study, and as we rid our 
minds of other things. That is largely the 
problem of a clearer perception, getting rid 
of other matters on the mind. This is reas- 
onable when we think of it, because we 
know that all learning is dependent upon 
giving attention to the subject in hand, and 
the person who gives the best attention 
wholly dismissing other matters will see 
more in what he studies, just as a person 
inclosed in a room to himself will see any- 
thing better than if there are other things 
to attract his attention. Clear p'erception, 
then, is possible and especially to the stu- 
dent of God's word, not at once but as a re- 
sult of constant study, and clear perception 
is essential to clear teaching. Again the 
character of a person has a great deal to 
do with his mind. All honest, straightfor- 



340 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

ward and truthful persons can understand 
any subject where morality and spirituality 
are involved better than the opposite type 
of person. Time is a necessary factor in 
Bible study, for we understand it better 
after more experience. The teacher who 
earnestly desires to know the Bible first of 
all to live it, and then to impart the knowl- 
edge so as to help some other person to live 
it, will, in course of time, be admitted into 
itv^. secrets in such a way that he will under- 
stand it better, and as he understands it 
better he will be able to teach it more suc- 
cessfully. 

A teacher should have a thorough knowl- 
edge of the lesson, and that means that he 
must know more about the Bible than he 
will teach and more than is embodied in the 
lesson he is teaching. Just as we must first 
dam up the little stream and store up a 
large pond or lake of water before we can 
develop the horsepower desirable, so we 
must store up a reserve supply of in- 
formation on the subject matter of the les- 
son in order to be able to teach with power. 
The success of the teacher lies in the teach- 
er, in his personality, and in his knowledge 
of the subject. A thorough mastery of the 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 341 

subject tends to impart enthusiasm to the 
teacher, and nothing weighs more in at- 
tracting attention than enthusiasm. The 
enthusiastic man appears to be possessed 
with something, and the word means pos- 
sessed with God, and a person filled with 
the knowledge of God's word, and under- 
stands it, and knows he understands by- 
testing the interpretation by the Bible itself, 
will always be enthusiastic in his teaching, 
and his enthusiasm will develop enthusiasm 
on the part of the pupil. Oh, the sad lack 
of this enthusiasm on the part of so many 
teachers ! We talk of the laws of the work- 
ing of the human mind, and the laws of 
teaching, but, after all, there stands out the 
one law of self -activity on the part of the 
pupil as the one prerequisite to learning. 
Teaching is helpful, but the person can do 
a great deal without a teacher. There are 
among the colored people especially hun- 
dreds of examples of self-help on the part 
of men who enjoyed absolutely no educa- 
tional advantages at all, and yet they stand 
out today as men of rare vision and power. 



342 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

In every case these men are inspired by some 
living person, and carried away with their 
enthusiasm. Science or no science, if the 
teacher will take pains to know God's word 
to know it and to teach it, he will win the 
help of the Holy Spirit in his effort to teach 
it. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the law of the teacher? 

2. What ds inductive teaching"? 

3. V/hat is deductive teaching? 

4. How may enthusiasm be developed in the teacher? 

5. Give notable example of self-help from enthusias- 
tic inspiration: 

6. How is a teacher different from others who study? 



VI. 



THE TEACHER'S SPECIAL LESSON 
PREPARATION. 

We have spoken in another place of the 
necessity of the teacher knowing his sub- 
ject very thoroughly, and we have still fur- 
ther given emphasis to his mastery of his 
matter as being the first essential to suc- 
cess in teaching. This is all very true. It 
needs to be said now, however, that no 
thoroughness nor mastery of the subject 
can take the place or render unnecessary 
the teacher's special preparation of every 
lesson he teaches. Indeed, he will not con- 
tinue to be thorough in his mastery of the 
subject unless he continues a hard student 
of the word, and he must not even allow the 
special lesson preparation to interfere with 
his general study of the Bible. Nothing 
will help this special lesson preparation 
more than the broad and deep foundation of 
systematic and regular Bible study along 

(343) 



344 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

lines indicated already in another part of 
this book. If a teacher finds himself dis- 
inclined to study the Bible in this way it is 
evidence that his spirit is not what it should 
be for effective work as a Sunday school 
teacher. 

But coming back to special preparation 
of a lesson, the first step should be to read 
the entire lesson text, not only the small 
part that is usually printed in the quarter- 
lies, but the entire portion of Scripture in- 
dicated at the head of the lesson, together 
with the additional lesson material there. 
If any proper name occurs anywhere in the 
entire Scripture passage, at once look up 
the word in a one volume Bible dictionary, 
and jot down on paper what will help you 
to recall what the dictionary teaches so 
that you never will have to look up that 
word again any time in the future. If a 
full account is desired a four volume Bible 
dictionary will exhaust the subject. This 
looking up the significance of names of per- 
sons and places is exceedingly helpful in 
lesson preparation. The teacher should al- 
ways use as a basis of study a teacher's 
Bible, because so much is added in the back 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 345 

of the volume to help to understand the 
Bible. For instance, such a Bible contains 
sometimes fifteen maps of Bible lands to- 
gether with a practical method of helping 
to locate a place in the easiest possible man- 
ner. Turn, now, to the proper map as indi- 
cated in the table of place and find the place 
in the lesson, and fix it in mind, and always 
think of the incidents in the lesson after- 
ward in connection with the place or places. 
The dictionary and the map are wonderful 
helps, and should always be consulted. The 
quarterly announces at the head of the les- 
son the general topic of the entire lesson 
passage, and further suggests suitable top- 
ics for the three divisions of the school. Veri- 
fy all these topics from your study of the 
passage itself, and then see whether there is 
not some other vital topic easily discovered 
in the lesson that you would prefer to make 
the center of your teaching instead of the 
one suggested in the quarterly. A better 
topic can always be discovered where the 
one in the quarterly is simply historical, e. 
g., "Cain and Abel.'' A better topic would 
be "How to serve God" for Adults. We 
are not after improving the quarterly, but 
improving the teacher by causing him to 



346 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

think for himself. Some suggest that you 
ignore the subject altogether and take your 
own subject, but the method just outlined 
seems to us more sane. 

Of course the lesson must always be read 
in connection with the Scripture going just 
before and after it, the context as we call 
it. It would also be wise to read in advance 
the daily Bible readings that accompany 
each lesson in the quarterly so as to let the 
lesson on Sunday be the climax of your 
studies for each day of the previous week. 
This is the proper way to use these daily 
readings, not during the week following 
the teaching of the lesson with which they 
appear connected in the quarterly, but read 
them the week before the lesson is to be 
taught, and this will be found helpful in 
fastening the lesson on the mind and heart. 
A dictionary of English is helpful and 
should be used when any single word is not 
understood in any of these passages. More- 
over, the teacher must make sure the sen- 
tence is understood, and the logic of the ar- 
rangement of the thought. Care must be 
taken not to study the lesson simply to find 
and prove the topic suggested in the helps 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 847 

as already hinted above, but in preparing 
the lesson, the teacher must make sure that 
he neglects no suggestion or teaching the 
passage may contain, not for teaching it but 
for himself. He must learn much more 
than he aims to teach. 

The next step in lesson preparation after 
the teacher has mastered the lesson, is to 
plan to present this lesson to his class to the 
best advantage. He must plan out of a full 
mind and heart to teach that part of the 
lesson text that will best serve to religiously 
educate and spiritually edify his class, and 
it will be found that the best means to this 
end will be to select the topic in the lesson 
that can be most closely related to the gen- 
eral needs of the pupil and the church and 
the community, some practical topic close- 
ly associated with the every day experience 
of the pupil and his social group. Such a 
treatment of a lesson never fails to inter- 
est and help, whereas a merely historical 
topic is void of vital affect as such. If a 
subdivision of the topic can be easily made, 
so much the better, and better still if there 
be as many as three divisions arranged as 
an alliteration, i. e., with the same letter 
beginning each word, as in Phil. 2:5-11: 



348 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

Service, Sacrifice, Satisfaction. Indeed, 
when you are not able to find a central top- 
ic, three topics like in the above will serve 
as a good plan, and really do suggest a cen- 
tral topic, the Christ life. If not al- 
literation, then one central topic with sub- 
topics will leave a better impression. Now, 
after deciding upon the main line of 
thought, the next step is to prepare to pre- 
sent that thought in a way to arouse inter- 
est. Of course everything depends upon 
what grade of puDils we are teaching. If 
seniors, a news item would serve to pre- 
pare the mind. This matter will be treated 
under the head of the pupil more fully. It 
is to be borne in mind that while we are 
after improving the life of the pupil and his 
group, we are also anxious to show him 
how to appreciate the Bible and how to 
study it, and what to expect to learn from 
such study. All of this can be impressed 
in^^irectly when we proceed along proper 
lines. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 349 
QUESTIONS. 

1. What kind of knowledge should precede the knowl- 
edge of the lesson? 

2. What special preparation should be made for teach- 
ing the lesson? 

3. What lesson helps needed? 

4. What should be the teacher's plan of studying the 
lesson ? 

5. When should the daily Bible references be studied? 



yiL 

THE LESSON PLAN. 

Of course each lesson should be thorough- 
ly studied so as to ma&ter the facts, it mat- 
ters not how well versed in Bible knowl- 
edge and other information the teacher 
may really be or have the reputation of be- 
ing. He should always come before his 
class with a fresh knowledge of the techni- 
calities in the lesson as well as the detail 
facts and spiritual and practical lessons. 

The Bible is a bock hard to remember in 
detail because it is so closely written, and 
because our minds do not usually meditate 
upon the contents enough to hold it in the 
subconsciousness. Then the devil is ever 
present to cause us to misquote or misin- 
terpret or misapply it. Any teacher in the 
world will make some technical error in 
the course of teaching unless he especially 
prepares each lesson before undertaking to 
teach it. 

(351) 



352 HQW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

We come now to the special reason why 
the teacher should especially prepare each 
lesson before trying to teach it, and that is 
that no lesson should be taught until it has 
been especially planned to suit the needs 
and conditions of the pupils. In the first 
place, the teacher should plan to present to 
the pupil but one big idea or thought in con- 
nection with the lesson, and he ought to 
have a particular aim or end in view in de- 
ciding what that thought should be. He 
should know the condition and needs of the 
people, of the particular community, of the 
church, of the age, and sex; and with this 
knowledge in mind he should try to find in 
the passage of Scripture under considera- 
tion some one truth to impart, and apply in 
a practical way. The lesson will contain 
other useful matter, but this should be sub- 
ordinated and properly related to the one 
outstanding big idea or thought that you 
wish to impress thoroughly upon your pu- 
pils. 

Another thing must be recognized by the 
teacher, and that is that the Gospel is social 
in its nature, and the one grand object is to 
reorganize society and build up the ideal 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 353 

community that Augustine called the City 
of God, but the New Testament describes 
it as the Kingdom of Heaven. Great stress 
is laid upon the individual, but largely be- 
cause society must be reached through in- 
dividual units. The teacher must be inter- 
ested in society in general, not secret socie- 
ty only, nor aristocratic society of the 
classes, but in human society, particularly 
as represented by our own people. He must 
not get the idea of exclusiveness or holiness 
that will make him blind as to the claims of 
society upon him, or to release him from 
his obligation to help to make the world bet- 
ter. In other words, true Christianity is 
never self -centered, but is social in its na- 
ture, and is intended for the other fellow's 
good, and we ourselves never get the full 
benefits of our own religion except as we 
serve others. 

The one outstanding thought of the lesson 
should be a social application, and it will 
be found that a ready response will come 
from the class. This is why the pupils 
will always become interested in what con- 
cerns "our people," unless it is some person 
that cares more for another than for his 
own people. Surely, the great race problem 



354 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

in this country presents a social situation 
that should engage the attention of the Sun- 
day school teacher, and in preparing and 
planning his lesson he should seek to bring 
a message of hope and wisdom to his people, 
and if he does this, under present conditions 
he will find that he has the proper "point of 
contact'' and the pupiFs interest will bring 
the teacher the attention necessary for 
teaching and learning. It is idle for the 
teacher to devote the lesson hour to a tech- 
nical discussion of Jewish history or phil- 
osophy, unless he can make an application 
to his own people and times. Get the habit of 
living in the present and the future rather 
than in the past. The real fact is that Bible 
knowledge with a social as well as spiritual 
interpretation furnishes the very informa- 
tion our people need today in confronting 
a, situation such as is represented by the 
Race Problem in Amei*ica, and in the world 
for that m_atter. Surely, if relio'ious in- 
formation is of any value, it ought to apply 
here. And it does apply! Study the weak 
points of the people, and find where the 
trouble is ; and by close study of the lesson 
skilfully planned spring a surprise and even 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 355 

a shock upon your pupils by bringing them 
to the point where they get new water out 
of old wells, and help for the race where be- 
fore they failed to see anything to inspire. 
What is needed is that the teacher should 
know quite as 'much about his own people 
as he does about the Jewish people, and as 
much about the pupil as he does about the 
Bible. There is no teaching where the 
teacher does not know the pupil, and the 
pupil must be studied in the light of his 
people. 

Now then, we let the pupil know our aim 
and what is intended to be brought out by 
the lesson, and prepare the class to take an 
interest and then present the simplest state- 
ment of the facts of the lesson, and if it be 
a story, tell it in such way as will cause 
the pupil to be able to recall it. Talk about 
extraordinary things in an ordinary way, 
and use illustrations from the life of the 
pupils and his own people and times, rath- 
er than from Julius Caesar and the Roman 
Empire; so that ever afterward when he 
does the things which you used for illustra- 
tions he will remember the teachings and it 



356 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

will be brought home to his judgment and 
conscience. 

Move among the people and hear them 
talk and learn their burdens and their as- 
pirations, and bring it all in the lesson study 
or lecture or question. Let the pupil see the 
truth from as many different angles as pos- 
sible, and his mind will get busy, and he 
will compare and contrast and reason, and 
finally, he will be able to see for himself 
what you planned he should see. In another 
article some of the points touched here are 
referred to in more detail, and suggestions 
are made that will still further point the 
way to the proper planning of the lesson. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. For how many purposes should a lesson be studied? 
Name them. 

2. Why should the lesson presentation to pupil be 
planned ? 

3. What should be the nature of the princdpal applica- 
tion of a lesson? 

4. How should a lesson be illustrated to become effec- 
tive ? 

5. What is meant by the point of contact? 



VIII. 

ATTENTION AND HOW TO SECURE IT. 

Attention is fixing the mind upon some 
one thing to the exclusion of others. There 
are persons who appear to be able to give 
attention to several things at the same time, 
as when a person sings and plays and di- 
rects at the same time. But closer study 
will show that the person subconsciously 
does one or more of these things leaving the 
attention still centered on one only. Atten- 
tion carries energy of mind, and the word 
means a stretching to. Attention is volun- 
tary, involuntary and expectant. 

Voluntary attention is an act of the will 
by which the mind fixes itself upon some- 
thing, as when we offer a prayer, but volun- 
tary attention will not last long without in- 
terest. 

Involuntary attention is where the mind 
is attracted toward something on account of 

(357) 



358 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

interest in it. A pistol shot claims our at- 
tention at once. It is questionable whether 
any attention is helpful in teaching except 
from interest. To hold the attention upon 
a subject for a long time is a sign of genius, 
but it is less due to the will than to the lively 
interest in the subject. 

In teaching children we must bear in mind 
they are interested more in things than in 
symbols, and object teaching at least by pic- 
tures will aid in securing attention. 

It is to be remembered that the eye great- 
ly helps us to secure and hold attention, and 
even adults are attracted and influenced by 
pictures. 

The use of the blackboard is of signal 
help. It is not necessary that the teacher 
should be able to write plainly or make H 
good drawing in order to succeed. Let the 
teacher make simply a dot, or a dash, or a 
line, or a circle, and let him point to it^ as 
he teaches and keep his eye on it, allowing 
the marks through imagination to represent 
what he is teaching, and he will be surprised 
how it helps to secure and hold attention. 

In order to secure attention classes ought 
to be so arranged as to cause as little dis- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 359 

traction as possible. They should be ar- 
ranged in circles around teachers or as far 
from each other as space will allow in the 
schoolroom, and separate partitions consti- 
tute the ideal arrangement. But too much 
stress must not be placed upon the arrange- 
ment of the classes to the exclusion of the 
greater factor of the teacher's thorough 
study and planning of the lesson, and teach- 
ing according to the scientific method. 
Make no effort to teach unless interest is 
so aroused as to bring attention. Lay the 
book and notes aside, and look your pupils 
squarely in the eye, and ask particular in- 
dividuals questions calculated to attract at- 
tention, as when, for instance, a question is 
asked that seems to infer ^an idea that is 
not correct, e. g.. Where was Moses when 
he was about to slay Isaac? 

Expectant Attention is fixing the mind 
upon something we expect to happen in the 
future. The teacher will have to state what 
will happen, and then secure and hold at- 
tention toward that end. It should have 
been stated here before that, if the teach- 
er first fixes his own attention intensely on 
what he wishes to impress upon the pupil. 



360 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

it has a powerful effect in securing and hold- 
ing the pupiFs attention. But this is 
especially true in the case of expectant 
attention. The more the teacher him- 
self concentrates his mind, the more he 
can arouse expectant attention. The teach- 
er must have confidence in the outcome. 
It is expectant attention that enables a per- 
son to rise from sleep at the time he planned, 
and it is this that aids the physician in ef- 
fecting a cure, and sometimes aids the 
quack doctor also. 

The so-called Christian science that does 
its biggest work among people who care 
little for real Christianity and its Bible, 
is based upon nothing but expectant at- 
tention, which attention is secured by 
securing the point of contact and arous- 
ing the interest. The transcendentalism 
that is handed out as the science in 
which the poor victim is to believe error 
as truth has nothing whatever to do 
with the cures, but the victim is brought 
to the point where he actually expects 
to be cured, and his expectant atten- 
tion does the work. If Christians could 
only believe real cures possible, and would 
teach the Bible to that end, the expectant 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 361 

attention would effect genuine cures today 
as in earlier days. Of course all of this is 
closely related to hypnotism, for hynotism 
is only possible where the mind is not pre- 
engaged and expectant attention is at its 
best. 

Sunday school teachers can get good re- 
sults by arousing expectant attention, as- 
suring pupils of success in learning, in be- 
havior and in life, provided the Bible is 
made the guide of life. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is attention? 

2. What is its value? 

3. How many kinds of attention? 

4. What is the one essential to secure attention? 

5. Define voluntary attention. 

6. Define involuntary attention. 

7. Name and describe expectant attention. 

8. Name the two elements employed in the so-called 
Christia^n science. 

9. Look up the full meaning of transcendentalism. 

10. How may expectant attention be used in teaching? 



IX. 



THE USE OF THE QUESTION IN 
TEACHING. 

Whatever can be said of advanced meth- 
ods of teaching, there is no real teaching 
where the question does not play an impor- 
tant part in the instruction. Lecturing the 
class upon the general subject of the lesson, 
and telling the facts of the. lesson do not 
constitute good teaching. A teacher has 
not properly taught a lesson until the aver- 
age scholar is made to understand that les- 
son. A good teacher is not one who has 
the best knowledge of a lesson, but the one 
whose pupils have the best grip upon the 
lesson. 

A difficulty with all teachers is to know 
how far the pupils have understood the va- 
rious points in the lesson plan. If any part 
of the plan is improperly developed and 
understood the pupil fails to grasp the les- 

. 1 (363) 



364 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

son. It is by questions alone that a teach- 
er can get his bearings, and know when to 
take up his stakes and go forward. There 
is no teaching without a plan, and the suc- 
cess of the plan depends upon its develop- 
ment step by step, and at each step the 
teacher must make sure that he has his 
pupils with him. There is no surer way to 
know how well the pupils have followed 
than by the wise use of questions. 

We too often lose sight of the fact that 
the aim of the Sunday school is to build up 
a thorough knowledge of the Bible, as well 
as to lecture the pupils in morals each Sun- 
day with the Bible more or less as a basis 
of our remarks. The aim is to impart a 
general and correct idea of the Bible, and 
the question must play an important part. 
A large number of teachers have no par- 
ticular lesson plan, but aim to have the les- 
son recited just as laid down in a lesson 
help, reading the entire lesson, winding up 
by asking the questions laid down. Other 
teachers make a show of a plan which they 
develop in a lecture or sermonette, scarce- 
ly asking a question that does not admit of 
"yes" or "no'' as an answer, their chief aim 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 



365 



seeming to be to impress the class that they 
know the lesson themselves, and often the 
teaching is so boisterous as to appear to be 
addressed to other classes. As between 
these two methods I am decidedly of the 
opmion that the best and most abiding re- 
sults will follow where the lesson is simply 
read or recited as laid down and the stereo- 
typed questions at the end asked and an- 
swered. But neither of these ways is best. 
A method with no questions is fully as bad 
as one with questions only. In fact, there 
is no question method standing by itself, 
but questioning is a necessary part of any 
good method. The trouble arises from the 
fact that questions are asked often because 
a teacher does not know the lesson, while 
the one that has a good knowledge of the 
lesson is more anxious to show that knowl- 
edge than to teach by a suitable method. 
We must guard against the reaction that 
has followed disgust at asking stereotyped 
questions only to discard the question al- 
together. Questioning is not all there is of 
teaching, but there is no good teaching 
without it. However thoroughly a lesson 
has been learned and a plan thought out. 



366 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

that teacher is still unprepared to teach a 
lesson unless suitable questions have been 
thought out for developing the lesson. 

No one can visit schools and not note how 
generally teachers fail to interest their pu- 
pils. As a general thing their lack of in- 
terest is the penalty the teacher pays for 
neglecting the lesson, especially the lesson 
plan. We often discuss the best method 
for a teacher to secure attention. If there 
is any one answer to this question, it is this : 
the teacher fails to employ questions prop- 
ly put. There is no greater way to inter- 
est pupils. The question always interests, 
and the degree of interest simply depends 
upon the wisdom and method of the ques- 
tion. It arouses curiosity which leads to 
interest. If this seems untrue in any case, 
it is because the question is not put in the 
proper form. Wise questioning is the cli- 
max of all excellence in teaching. It is by 
far the hardest part of the work. It is the 
one sure sign of a gifted teacher. It has 
been ever employed by all great teachers. 

But whatever can be said of questions, 
the fact remains that teaching and ques- 
tioning are inseparable. It has been re- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 367 

peatedly said very truly that teaching is 
not telling. It is not lecturing, it is not 
preaching. It does not consist of putting 
knowledge into a pupil, only so far as thiat 
knowledge is a pointer to lead the pupil to 
work out his own conclusion. Teaching is 
developing the mind of the pupil, leading 
him to discover truth for himself. He 
learns only by doing for himself, and how- 
ever tedious and long drawn out the method, 
that only is the correct one that follows 
along this line. Questioning is a tedious 
way, and a longer time is required to teach 
a lesson, but the longer such time, the bet- 
ter for the pupil in all reason. Truth too 
easily discovered will be too soon forgotten. 
Questioning is better for both teacher and 
pupil, leading both to know the lesson more 
thoroughly. 

But, as I have already hinted, everything 
depends upon the way the question is put 
to the class or pupil. Some teachers never 
draw out proper answers, while others suc- 
ceed admirably. First of all, we must con- 
vince the pupils that when asked^ an an- 
swer must be given. Let it be understood 
that the teacher is not going to give the an- 



368 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

swer himself. Better change the form of 
the question if it has not been so put as the 
average scholar can answer. The average 

ability of the class, and the particular abili- 
ty of the pupil must be understood. If we 
should make up our minds to employ ques- 
tions in teaching generally in our schools, 
there would necessarily be a closer relation 
between pupil and teacher. Then when a 
proper answer is given the pupil should be 
commended. Do not insist upon an an- 
swer in the very terms we desired, but if 
the reply shows the proper course of reas- 
on, commend the pupil. No question is of 
use in teaching that can be answered by 
simply "yes" or "no.'' That is the great 
fault in our Sunday schools. 

To wisely employ questions in teaching, 
we must distinguish between two general 
classes, and employ each in its proper place. 

1. There is the training question. This 
is the question employed in imparting a 
knowledge of the lesson on Sunday. The 
questions serve only as pointers enabling 
the pupil to blaze out his own way to the 
truth of the lesson. It is employed by all 
expert teachers of young children, and is 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 369 

especially helpful where the pupil is too 
young to study a lesson as laid down in a 
more advanced lesson help. It is generally 
associated with object teaching among the 
young. It is also helpfully employed among 
advanced pupils where the lesson is made 
to bring but one central truth. It is gen- 
erally employed where a teacher has his 
own plan and is not following a lesson help. 
It is the natural way to develop a lesson 
plan. There is no other way except by lec- 
turing, and in a lecture the teacher himself 
gets all the benefit. Training questions 
must be pointedly put, and with spirit and 
good humor, and in proportion as a pupil 
is sufficiently advanced as to prepare his 
lesson, ought the question to be addressed 
to individuals and not to the whole class. 
The aim is to cause a scholar to reason his 
way to knowledge, for his reason he is liable 
to have with him all his life, while he must 
part from his teacher. 

Therefore, foolish questions should be 
avoided, and the teacher should "take as 
much care in planning the question as he 
would have the pupil employ in answering 
it. By no means should he ask random 

Sig.— 13. 



370 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

questions while he is thinking of another 
step in his lesson plan. The questions are 
intended to cause the pupil to concentrate 
his mind and should neither be too hard nor 
too easy. If no better result is secured 
than the honest effort to answer, the ques- 
tion has done much good. When the pu- 
pil learns to concentrate his mind, there is 
great hope for him. 

2. There is also the testing question. 
This is the nature of questions that ought 
to be put at the beginning of a recitation 
as a review of the last lesson, and also at 
the close of that lesson. Of course, before 
we shall realize the importance of such 
questions we must place a proper estimate 
upon reviews in teaching. Along with the 
disuse of questions so generally has grown 
up the testimony to neglect reviews each 
Sunday, and at the end of the quarter. Re- 
views would never lose their significance if 
only we get the idea that the school is in- 
tended to teach the pupils a knowledge of 
the whole Bible, and not to lecture on mor- 
als only with the Bible as a basis. Scattered 
about over the books of the Bible as the In- 
ternational lessons are even at present, for 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 371 

a knowledge of the proper place of the 
lesson in the Bible narrative and the Bible 
as a whole we must depend chiefly upon re- 
views. And in reviews there is no method 
that is better than questions wisely put. 
This is the shorter way. to cover the ground. 
It is the way that tests the knowledge of 
the pupil. And of course everything de- 
pends upon the question put. All review 
questions should be so stated as to show the 
perspective of all the lessons for a quar- 
ter, or of a particular lesson for a day. Un- 
til a lesson has been reviewed, the pupil 
never understands it. All reviews should 
be conducted upon a well thought out plan, 
for both lesson and quarter with suitable 
questions. For pupils in course of educa- 
tion, questions that may be called construc- 
tive may be asked for the purpose of lan- 
guage training as well as the advantage of 
constructive teaching. Properly speaking, 
these are not questions, but requests. In- 
deed, the same are helpful in the training 
work of a lesson. A good idea in beginning 
any lesson is to request some pupil to con- 
struct a story of the lesson bringing out the 
principal facts and teachings. After efforts 



372 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

to construct, or rather reconstruct the les- 
son, any defects are to be corrected by both 
training and testing questions. For pupils 
able to prepare a lesson, this is a good meth- 
od — the questions following the efforts at 
construction. Most Sunday school teach- 
ers teach inductively and constructive work 
ought always to follow. The proper idea 
of asking questions is not to make this a 
method by itself, but to judiciously connect 
it with any and all methods, the special ob- 
ject of this article being to impress the im- 
portance of a proper preparation for ask- 
ing questions. First, we should have re- 
gard to the kind of question ; then the form ; 
then the manner and pointedness. It is not 
well to use the stereotyped questions in 
lesson helps, but it is far better to use them 
than to ask no questions at all, or to origi- 
nate questions not as good. If there is any 
way to be contrived to secure a longer time 
for the recitation it will be a great improve- 
ment in advanced classes. But a certain 
part of each recitation should be for re- 
view of the last lesson, teaching of the day's 
lesson, review of this lesson, and nreview 
of the one for next Sunday. In this con- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 373 

nection, questions will be most helpful and 
as a general thing, will cover the whole 
ground better. If every teacher would not 
only study a lesson to know it himself, but 
also search pedagogical books for sugges- 
tions as to how to teach a particular grade, 
a great improvement would be made in Sun- 
day school teaching. In a class of excel- 
lently prepared pupils that do not require 
so much method because of more mature 
minds, problematical questions on the So- 
cratic order may be asked to quicken the 
pupils and to teach the application of the 
principles of the lesson. This is best done 
in parables suited to teach such applica- 
tion. But such questions can only properly 
come after the testing and training ques- 
tions have first fixed the lesson in the mind. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is proof of rigrM teaching? 

2. Describe the use of the question in lesson prepara- 
tion and presentation. 

8. What kind of question should never be asked of 
pupils ? 

4. What is teaching-? 

5. How should questions be stated for best results? 

6. How cafn a teacher best secure answers to questions ? 

7. Describe ai training question. 

8. Describe a testing question. 



X. 

SELF-ACTIVITY IN TEACHING 

OR 
HAND WOEK. 

The old axiom "No impression without 
expression" is true in teaching, and is an- 
other way of emphasizing the self -activity 
of the pupil as the one essential in teaching. 
There really is no teaching without learning. 
The Bible in Nehemiah 8:7, expresses the 
real idea of teaching by the clause "caused 
the people to understand." The understand- 
ing of the pupil must be aroused to func- 
tion, or else there is no real teaching. Now- 
adays it is understood as a fundamental 
principle that information must be so im- 
parted that the memory will be able to re- 
call and reproduce it, and reproduction is 
the only true proof that the teaching has 
succeeded. There is no way the mind can 
be trained except through its own faculties 
and processes, and these must function of 

f^n, (375) 



376 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

the pupiFs own wall power J)ef ore knowl- 
edge can be assimilated. The' teacher may 
impart information, but it will mean noth- 
ing at all to the pupil unless he is able to 
think it in by the usual w^ay the mind pro- 
ceeds. 

The successful teacher puts his pupil to 
work along lines calculated to make them 
think of what he is teaching, for learning 
by doing is true because doing arouses self- 
activity. 

Hand work, or manual work, in teaching 
is a practical way of arousing the pupils to 
self-activity. It has been noted that the 
hand is quite closely connected with the 
brain because it figures so prominently in 
all the achievements of the human race. 
The hand is the chief organ of touch, and 
touch is bv far the most imT3ortant of all 
the senses. The education of Helen Kellar 
and Laura Bridgem_an chiefly through 
touch has opened our eyes to the importance 
of touch in education. Touch includes the 
sense of temperature and the muscular 
sense, and scientists now hold that if a hu- 
man being should lose the sense of touch 
with its modifications, it would be impossi- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 377 

ble to live. Whatever a pupil touches gets 
pretty close to consciousness, and certainly 
touch gives the clearest perception, and 
clear perceptions lead to clear conceptions 
and judgment. 

In the Sunday school it is not possible to 
do as much manual work as can be done in 
a day school, but there is a great deal that 
can be done, and it should begin with the 
lowest or beginner's grade. Sand trays and 
clay for moulding are largely used in day 
schools where the little pupils are required 
to spend several hours in school, and many 
Sunday schools have installed the same. But 
the short time we have these little ones 
would hardly justify the doing of such 
work, and especially since we can get good 
results from other methods of manual work. 
Objects should be employed as far as pos- 
sible in teaching and the children should be 
allowed to touch them. Then the Begin- 
ners should color pictures and outline let- 
ters as provided in the quarterlies. 

The Primary pupil goes a step further 
and reproduces words, and pastes pictures 
in a scrap book as near like the lesson pic- 
ture as possible. There is no use of strain- 



378 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

ing and putting up appearances unless we 
are going to get the results. We can dis- 
pense with the sand table, or trays, and 
moulding clay in Sunday schools, if we will 
employ methods here suggested, but the col- 
oring, copying, and clipping must not be 
neglected. 

It is in the Junior Department especially 
that the technical hand work program and 
details bring the best results, because the 
Juniors are constructive and expressive. 
This is so true that a Junior quarterly is 
sometimes called Junior work, because the 
manual work is so essential to this grade. 
The Junior is full of life and energy, and 
wants to exercise himself and keep doing 
something, and a large part of the teacher's 
preparation is planning to keep the pupil 
busy doing what will help to impress the les- 
son. The main idea is that the Junior age 
is the most fruitful in results of the school 
age, because of energy which is equally as 
valuable as mental ability, and because of 
the power to recall, and because of the in- 
stinct to collect. The manual work should 
be in Bible history and geography and orig- 
inal composition and reference work. The 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 379 

pupil must be given something to do that 
will cause him to continue to think along 
the lines of the lesson. 

Bible mastery is largely a matter of hand- 
work, for the stories should be written 
down in outline, and reproduced again and 
again from memory. Nothing helps to fix 
the Bible in mind and memory more than 
to write the substance of chapters and books 
and reproduce same several times on tab- 
lets. The Intermediate and Senior and all 
other pupils should use the hand and tablet, 
and get the habit of reproducing all that is 
taught or read and it will prove very help- 
ful in mastering any subject. 

This principle of self -activity is back of 
the organized class with its many activities 
extending all through the week. Helping 
others is expressional of the impression 
made through the teaching of the word. 

It is now regarded that mere teaching of 
a class on Sunday is very far short of what 
can be done unless manual work and other 
expressional work is systematically prac- 
ticed by the pupils, for we learn by doing. 



380 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. How is the mind so developed, as the pupil is 
taught, that the information will be of service in 
further studies? 

2. What is self -activity in psychology? 

3. What is the significance of hand work? 

4. Illustrate the use of touch in education. 

5. Describe outline of manual work for elementary di- 
vision. 



:i.;i XI. 

THE MEMORY, AND HOW TO 

IMPROVE IT. ; ! 

No subject is of more importance to the 
teacher than the question of improving the 
memory, for he will not only be better pre- 
pared to teach successfully, but he will al- 
so be greatly helped in his own personal 
studies. It matters not how brilliant a pu- 
pil may be in recitation, unless his memory 
is capable of causing him to retain what he 
learns, and also of reproducing what he 
learns, his education will be of little service 
to him, if indeed he can be called educated 
at all. 

Memory is either voluntary or involun- 
tary, the former being defined as remem- 
brance, and the latter as recollection. 

Involuntary memory reminds us very 
much of the sensitive plate that a photogra- 
pher inserts in his carnera in order to take 
a picture. When this sensitive plate is ex- 

(381) 



*382 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

posed to the light an impression is made 
upon the plate reproducing the picture of 
everything in front of the lense of the cam- 
era. In the case of memory, the cells or 
the lining of the brain form the sensitive 
plate, and whatever comes in the focus of 
the eye is impressed upon the lining of the 
brain, and the impression seems to last a 
long time in the subconsciousness. The pic- 
tures are made on the brain cells or lining, 
and consciousness is like focusing a spot- 
light on the memory plate bringing back 
the picture in memory. Involuntary mem- 
ory, or remembrance, is often very marked 
in certain pupils who can make perfect 
recitations for the time, but it is generally 
true these same pupils have a verbal mem- 
ory rather than a memory based upon rea- 
son. Verbal memory is the ability to espec- 
inal composition and reference work. The 
vantage as compared with the memory of 
reason. 

The memory not only takes account of 
what is seen, but it also retains all impres- 
sions made upon the senses, so that it has 
been said that a man is an embodiment of 
everything with which he has come in con- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 383 

tact, which is another way of saying that 
the memory not only retains the impres- 
sions, but they enter into the make-up of our 
judgment even though held in the subcon- 
scious area. Just as we see especially well 
the point where the light is focused, and 
we see less perfectly what does not come in 
the immediate focus, so in the case of the 
mind, there is a conscious area we desig- 
nate consciousness, and there is also a less 
distinct area of vision or consciousness that 
we designate the subconsciousness and we 
are not aware of the operations of the sub- 
consciousness, but the results are often more 
dependable than the consciousness. A mat- 
ter worries us in our waking hours and we 
can find no solution often, until we sleep 
over it, and let the subconsciousness handle 
it, and often we awake the next day pre- 
pared for the solution. Some persons seem 
to get better results than others, for there 
are persons who can set the mind to alarm 
or wake them, up in the morning with un- 
failing regularity. The lesson to the teacher 
is be careful of all that is said and done be- 
fore the pupils, for it will all go into their 
lives. Another lesson to learn is that time is 
an important element in placing a lesson in 



384 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

the pupil's memory and understanding, for 
the subconsciousness requires time. 

Recollection, or logical memory, is of 
fundamental importance in education, and 
all true teaching is so planned as to make 
recollection possible and easy. All the 
science of teaching is but an effort to 
place information in the mind of the pupil 
in such a way that he will be able to retain 
and reproduce it, and recognize it for all 
times. 

The Five Laws of Memory Are as Follows : 

. 1. THE LAW OF USE. 

2. THE LAW OF INTEREST. 

3. THE LAW OF ATTENTION. 

4. THE LAW OF REPETITION. 

5. THE LAW OF ASSOCIATION. 

The Law of Use. Every part of the body 
can be strengthened by proper exercise, and 
the memory is no exception. Take for in- 
stance, the custom of taking notes at lec- 
tures. If one is intent upon making full 
notes he is apt to fail to take time to reason 
the lecture into his memory, for he intends 
to rely chiefly upon his notes, and fails to 
exercise his memory and rely upon it. The 
proper way to take notes is to jot down 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 385 

merely a word that will serve to recall the 
line of thought, and then after the lecture 
we should immediately write out full notes 
embracing a logical outline. 

Again, some teachers even carry notes 
into their classes because they cannot trust 
their memory, and this is destructive to 
memory, and really advertises our ignorance 
to the class, and pupils fail to gather in- 
spiration and enthusiasm in such cases, 
and certainly the teacher cannot expect the 
pupils to be more thorough than their teach- 
er. Put it up to your memory to make 
good, and more and more we will improve 
in retaining and recalling what is taught. 
The Law of Interest. We generally( remem- 
ber what interests us most, and this fact 
should be very helpful to us in discover- 
ing how to improve the memory. The 
teacher should never undertake to present 
the lesson to a pupil until he has discovered 
his point of contact so indispensable in real 
teaching. 

The Law of Attention. It also is true 
that we recall more readily what interested 
us most to the extent that we give individ- 
ual attention to it. It has been said that the 



386 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

mind's retention is in exact proportion to 
its attention. There are teachers who dis- 
count the value of method, or who at least 
make no effort to learn the proper method 
of teaching. The science of teaching re- 
quires attention before there can be any 
real teaching, and the relation of attention 
to memory illustrates the value of a proper 
preparation on the part of the teacher. It 
can therefore be readily seen that teachers 
themselves are largely responsible for the 
failure of pupils to remember what is 
taught them. 

The Law of Repetition. This points to 
the daily lesson review, and shows its value, 
and there is no real teaching without daily 
reviews. The quarterly review is a test, 
but the daily review is an essential ele- 
ment in teaching. The more we go over a 
matter in our minds, the more we increase 
the mental associations, and understand re- 
lations. A person who teaches has a great 
advantage in memory over one who does 
not teach, for he will understand and re- 
member the subject more thoroughly. This 
is an advantage the Sunday school teacher 
realizes from the sacrifice to help others. 



HOW) TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 387 

He will understand the Bible and its rela- 
tions to life better, because going over and 
over the lessons, aided by supplemental 
systematic Bible study will greatly affect 
his personal life. 

The Law of Association comes last but it 
is not least. Just as there is no real teach- 
ing without interest and attention, so there 
is no efficient teaching unless the lesson is 
taught in such way as to lead the pupil 
to associate it with other information he 
already has, and the more of these mental 
associations, the better for the memory. 

The Four Laws of Association. Associa- 
tion plays such an important function in 
memory that it is worth while to here give 
them: 

1. THE LAW OP CONTIGUITY. 

2. THE LAW OF SIMILAEITY. 

3. THE LAW OF SIGN AND THING SIGNIFIED. 

4. THE LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT. 

Now the significance of these laws is that 
they represent a classification that the mind 
employs for storing away information so 
as to be able to reproduce it at will. As in- 
formation comes to the mind, related in- 
formation is placed in certain pigeonholes, 
as it were, in the way a mail clerk assorts 
his mail so as to be able to reproduce it. 



388 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

The Law of Contiguity. This is the pigeon- 
hole in which time and place will serve to 
impress the mind. We remember things 
that happened at the same time or in the 
same place. 

The Law of Similarity. Things that are 
similar to each other are placed in the same 
pigeonhole, and we more easily learn them, 
than things opposite to each other. This is 
the philosophy of Hebrew poetry in the 
Bible which was written so as to help the 
people memorize, for to understand would 
mean to rememlDer, for what we really 
know we recall. 

"Blessed is the man that 
Walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, 
Nor standeth in the way of sinners." 

Both these clauses mean the same thing 
and help to impress and aid memory. 

"The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, 
But the way of the ungodly shall perish." 

Here is a contrast that helps understand- 
ing and memory. 

The Law of Sign, and Thing Signified, 

i. e., the grouping of things with their 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 389 

names, words and symbols with their ob- 
jects or ideas. We easily recall the image 
when we see the word cat. We easily re- 
call sacrifice and suffering when we see the 
sign of the cross. 

The Law of Cause and Effect takes care 
of information that is gathered by the use 
of reason, and what a pupil reasons into his 
mind is there to stay, and he rather knows 
it than remembers it, for it is a part of 
his mind. 

The process of association is carried on 
by the mind itself, but the teacher should 
assist the mind by knowing the laws of as- 
sociation and let his illustrations and dia- 
grams and presentations be calculated to 
store in memory. Everything must be so 
taught that the pupil may be able to discov- 
er the relations. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Why is memory important? 

2. How many kinds of memory? 

3. Name and describe each. 

4. Describe consciousness? 

5. Define and distinguish verbal and lo^cal memory. 

6. How is the memory improved? 

7. What can the teacher do to help memory? 

8. What can the pupil do to assist memory ? 

9. Give the laws of memory. 

10. Give the laws of association and explain. 



FROEBEL 

"To give firmness to the will, to quicken it, and 
to make it pure, strong, and enduring in a life of 
pure humanity, is the chief concern, the main ob- 
ject in the guidance of the boy in instruction and 
the school." 



XII. 

THE WILL AND HOW TO 
STRENGTHEN IT. 

It is not sufficient to train the intellect and 
feeling only, but the will must receive prop- 
er attention. In the Old Testament the 
word does not appear as often as it does in 
the New Testament, and the same emphasis 
is not placed upon the will in the Old Testa- 
ment as in the New Testament. The legal 
school discounted the will just as out of 
date school teachers in these days fail to 
teach in such way as to develop the will. 
The real fact is that the will is the person. 
One high authority claims that the essen- 
tial achievement of the will is to attend to 
a difficult object, and to hold it fast before 
the mind, and that this effort of attention 
is therefore the essential phenomenon of 
the will, so that we both acquire knowledge 
and put it into practice throus^h the will 

(391) 



392 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

power, and thus the will is the personality. 
An infant has no will, but his actions are 
reflex only and the will and personality de- 
velop side by side. How to train the will, 
therefore, is of vital importance. There is 
no better treatment of the subject of the 
will than the New Testament, for Chris- 
tianity relies largely upon will power for 
results, and the entire effort is to bring the 
human will in harmony with the divine will. 
The whole question is one of the will, and 
in order to get results our will must be ad- 
justed to the divine will. But this adjust- 
ment is not in obedience to any command — 
but a purely voluntary matter — or the will 
fails to function. Christianity does not 
crush the human will in favor of the divine 
but it brings the person of his own volition 
to change his rebellion. The outstanding 
fact of the New Testament is thai Christ 
compels no one to do anything, but every- 
thing is voluntary in Christianity. To com- 
pel is to crush the will, and to crush the 
will is to take from a person the only means 
by which he can make good. 

Paul beautifully expresses the Christ 
plan of salvation when he writes: "Let not 
sin therefore reign in your mortal body, 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 393 

that ye should obey the lust thereof. Neith- 
er yield ye your members as instruments 
of unrighteousness unto sin; but yield your- 
selves unto God, as those that are alive from 
the dead, and your members as instruments 
of righteousness unto God. For sin shall 
not have dominion over you; for ye are not 
under the law, but under grace.'' Rom. 6: 
12-14. The idea in this passage is that the 
will is supreme in human conduct and 
Christianity aims to strengthen and direct 
the will, and it is through rescuing the will 
that grace saves us. 

There is such a close relation between at- 
tention and the will that we may learn to 
control the will from what we already 
know about the law of attention. The 
whole question of attention is that of inter- 
est, for we give our attention when our in- 
terest is aroused. We have reduced will 
to attention, and attention to interest, and 
now the question turns on how to arouse 
interest in the pupil in such way as to 
lead the will to function. It is up to the 
teacher to create an interest on the part 
of his pupils in spiritual things, and to do 
this, teachers must show how spirituality 
ministers to the practical things of life. We 



394 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

are all very much interested in the things 
that are around us, and the issues of life, 
and we must so teach the Bible as to apply 
it to the practical things of life, and we 
shall no doubt interest our pupils. We 
must so teach as to interest, or there is no 
real teaching at all. Let us never forget 
that we must secure the interest or we fail, 
for interest alone brings attention, and at- 
tention is will power, and the more we use 
the will the more it is strengthened. 

So then we must both arouse interest and 
encourage the pupil to use his will. This 
is done when we arouse the self -activity of 
the pupil, and when we encourage him to 
reach his own conclusion. We should not 
apply the lesson for the pupil, but help him 
to reach the point where he can make his 
own application. In other words, we should 
so teach as to cause the pupil to think, to 
think for himself, and to rely upon his own 
conclusions. This is the method and ob- 
ject of the new education, or modern meth- 
od of teaching, and it is surely worth while 
to prepare ourselves as teachers so as to 
attain both mental and spiritual results. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 395 

To train the will, pupils should be placed 
upon their honor and trusted, and let the 
pupil see great things are expected of him, 
because he is entirely capable, if only he 
will. Right here is the fundamental differ- 
ence between Moses and Jesus as teach- 
ers, i. e., the difference between the Old and 
New Testaments. Moses did not have a 
very high opinion of the possibilities of in- 
dividuals, and he therefore did not expect 
much of them, and the law failed to save 
the people. But when Jesus came we can 
see from the story of the Prodigal Son, and 
all his illustrations, that he had an exalted 
estimate of the possibilities of the human 
soul, and upon this estimate he depended for 
results. Moses regarded people as serv- 
ants, but Christ changed that and tells us 
that his estimate is that we are not servants 
but friends. "For all things that I have 
heard of my Father I have made known 
unto you/' Jno. 15:15. Teachers must be 
slow to suspect pupils, or to let them know 
even if they are suspected. Put them on 
their honor and will, and we will follow the 
lolan of Jesus. 

To will is to choose between two oppos- 
ing ideas and the will is strengthened when 



396 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

we SO teach as to show what a thing is and 
what it is not. Man is a free agent and sub- 
ject to his own will. This is very clearly 
taught in the fourth chapter of Genesis, 
but the succeeding dispensation of the law 
crushed the will until Jesus came to restore 
it to its proper place. Train the pupil to 
make a choice and show both sides in or- 
der that he may know the facts and then 
know how to choose. Here is the great ad- 
vantage and need of Bible study to the 
Christian, because he gets all the facts 
about religion, and he has a wide range of 
choice. 

There is nothing of greater importance 
than will training to the Sunday school 
teacher and he should practice upon him- 
self. The will results from an act of judg- 
ment after close attention, and the proper 
time to will is immediately after the judg- 
ment is formed. It is contrary to proper 
order to postpone to carry out the decision 
of the mind. Young converts should ^be 
called upon imm.ediatelv after conversion 
to dedicate themselvps for special service, 
and they should be installed in the work 
at once. If a decision is made, and the will 



,HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 397 

fails to act at once, it is weakened more 
and more as time passes. "Do it now'' is 
a good motto. But right here we are con- 
fronted with the fact that the will acts not 
from cause, i. e., reason, but will power 
comes from motive, or feeling, and in teach- 
ing effectively feeling must go hand in hand 
with reason in order to reach the will. Where 
there is genuine conversion both reason and 
feelings are involved, and we should press 
conversion to the point of definite service 
at once. Paul received his call to definite 
service and entered upon his work immedi- 
ately after conversion, and it is doubtless 
true in the case of others, and we should 
teach that persons are converted to a defi- 
nite service for the Master, and such work 
should begin at once upon decision for 
Christ, for if neglected then it may be neg- 
lected for ever. 

A practical expression of will power is 
self-control, and this enables a person to 
learn just how much progress he is making 
in the cultivation of the will. Let self-con- 
trol be taug:ht as practical Christianity, and 
let the matter continue to be impressed un- 
til it ^ets on the subconsciousness, and 
gradually the will asserts itself, and the 



398 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

mind and body are brought under control. 
Our Sunday schools fail as they fail to stress 
self-control. We should rely upon expect- 
ant attention to help us achieve this grand 
end. Work the pupils up to the point to 
appreciate the power of the will, how it is 
strengthened and that self-control is its best 
expression. Then expect great things from 
the pupils, and let them know it, and place 
them upon their honor and their will. Set 
tlie right ideal and make the standard high 
and work at this Sunday after Sunday, un- 
til the mind in its subconscious state takes 
hold of it, and it is in this realm that God 
gets in his work, "For it is God that work- 
eth in you both to will and to do of his good 
pleasure," Phil. 2:13. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Write out Froebel's quotation on the will. 

2. Describe the difference between the use of will in 
the Old and New Testaments. 

3. What takes the place of will in infants? 

4. How is the will stren^hened? 

5. How is the wilH weakened? 

6. What immediately leads to an act of the will? 



XIII. 

MORALITY AND RELIGION 

OR 

THE TRAINING OF THE FEELINGS. 

Just as the sense of touch is the most im- 
portant of all the senses, so the feelings or 
sensibilities are at the bottom of all men- 
tal operation. There is a tendency to put 
the training of the Sunday schools upon a 
pure intellectual basis, just as the intellect 
is exalted above the feelings in our univer- 
sities. But education cannot attain its 
highest results until the whole mind is 
trained, and the mind is composed of intel- 
lect, feeling, and will. 

The German educators are ahead of the 
world, and they lay great stress upon re- 
ligious training and the study of the Bible. 
Froebel taught that man is a child of hu- 
manity, a child of nature, and a child of 
God. Thus, the training in spiritual thinois 
is an essential part of all true culture. The 

(399) 



400 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

people in the United States will not allow 
the Bible to be taught in public schools, and 
the entire country is beginning to see the 
result. Current education is training the 
young generation in intellect at the expense 
of the higher religious nature, and God 
only knows what the future has in store. 
Even now thousands and millions are turn- 
ing their backs upon God's word and truth, 
and are believing lies such as are taught 
in the so-called Christian Science. Our 
education is based upon a wrong idea. The 
moral and religious issues are matters of 
the feeling as against intellect. Even the 
conscience itself is the result of right feel- 
ings, and yet our great universities are neg- 
lecting to train the faculty that is at the 
bottom of all mental action. 

Our feelings may be classified as emotions, 
aflfections, and desires. When the feel- 
ings are aroused in connection with the^ in- 
tellect we have surprise, wonder, admira- 
tion, happiness, sorrow, hope, fear, shame, 
the beautiful. 

When feelings are aroused in ^ psycho- 
physical way, we have cheerfulness, melan- 
choly, anxiety, indifference. Our affections 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 401 

such as love, anger, hate, and jealousy are 

feelings. 

Our desires such as curiosity, ambition, 
imitativeness, social are feelings, and con- 
science is the moral desire to be in harmony 
with God and right. 

It can be seen from the foregoing that 
if our teaching in the Sunday school 
is to be helpful in a spiritual way, the teach- 
er must give much attention to the intellec- 
tual training of the feelings. 

Of course since our people place so much 
emphasis on feeling in connection with 
preaching, and in so many cases seem en- 
tirely satisfied if only their feelings are 
stirred to the point of exhilaration result- 
ing in shouting; some intelligent people run 
to the extreme and speak against the ex- 
ercise of feeling in religious service and 
worship. But we must not be blinded to 
the facts in the case. Just because certain 
men merely play upon the feelings of others 
to arouse them to certain action, shall we 
allow the feeling faculty of the soul that 
enters so largely in what we are and hope 
to be to go untrained and be content to 

Sig. 14— 



402 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

train our intellect alone? Look over the 
list of virtues and graces inculcated in God's 
word, and then go and study psychology, 
and see that they are the results of the ex- 
ercise of feelings, and if our feelings are 
not trained we shall never attain to the 
Bible standard of living. Not much has 
been learned of the best way to train the 
feeling, but like other faculties of the mind 
the sensibilities can be trained by exercise. 
And the way to lead to such exercise is for 
the teacher to so teach as to excite the ap- 
propriate feeling, and put feeling into his 
teaching. Feeling responds to feeling, and 
this matter should receive the special con- 
sideration of the teacher who should ac- 
quaint himself with human emotions, af- 
fections and desires, and place his teaching 
from time to time so that none will be neg- 
lected, and this is to be done repeatedly and 
habitually. 

The Bible urges us: "Set your mind on 
thino-s that are above, not on the things 
that pre UDon the earth," Col. 3:2^ As has 
alrpfl/^v been said, the consHen^p is a moral 
feeliTi'T. and can bp ^nd shonl'l he trained 
as other feelings. Tt is one thino- to know 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 403 

one's duty, but it is quite another thing to 
feel in such a way as to lead to the clearing 
of conscience by suitable action. People 
know what is right, but so few feel their 
duty clearly. The highest feeling of -reli- 
gion is conscience, and when religious feel- 
ings have been aroused they should all clear 
through the conscience, which points the 
way to the proper response to the feeling. 
We must largely look to our Sunday schools 
to establish the truth that no religious feel- 
ing is acceptable before God except the 
feeling that stirs the conscience to action. 
Shouting is all right if it does not inter- 
cept the action, but just as all sensation 
leads to appropriate action, we must real- 
ize that rejoicing is of no service except as 
it leads the way to the conscience, and there 
is no proper appeal in religious preaching 
or teaching except to the conscience. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What was Froebel's teaching" as to man's nature? 

2. What is feeling? 

3. Classify feeling in a g-eneral way. 

4. Name some emotions. 

5. Name some desirps me"ntioned in the lesson. 

6. Name some wants mentioned in the lesson. 

7. What part does feeling play in morality and re- 
ligion ? 

8. How best to reach the pupil with morality and re- 
ligion ? 

9. Describe a pervision of religious feelings. 



404 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Manual Work for Use in Sunday School Ida Sexton. 

Keystone Training Course for Teachers (2nd year) 

Starting to Teach E. C. Foster. 

Pictured Truth F. G. Pierce. 

How to Deal With Lads P. Green. 

The Junior Worker and His Work Emma A. Robinson. 

Primer of Teacher Training A. A. Brown. 

Lange's Apperception 

Training for Service Hurbert Moninger. 

Preparation For Teaching Chas. A. Oliver. 

Training of Sunday School Teachers and Officers 

Franklin McElf resh. 

Teacher Training Class, How to Conduct it 

Emilie F. Kearney. 

Outline of Pedagogics Rein. 

Froebel's Educational Laws James L. Hughes. 

Philosophy of Teaching Arnold Tompkins. 

Teachers and Teaching- Trumbull. 

The Sunday School Teacher's Pupils Musselman. 

The Baptist Training Teachers' Manual Musselman. 

Practical Primary Plans Israel P. Black. 

Elements of Religious Pedagogy F. L. Pattee. 

Education as a Science Alexander Bain. 

Sacred Songs for Little Voices 

A Sunday School Kindergarten A. C. Hamstick. 

Handbook for Primary Teachers Annie F. Munor. 

Sunny Songs for Little Folks (No. 1.) 

How to Place a Lesson Marianna C. Brown. 

The Making of a Teacher . Brambaugh. 

iLove^ Light and Life for God's Little Children 

Mabel H. Wilson. 

Beginners and Primary Songs 

Songs for Little Singers . 

The Song Series, Book 1 

God's Love and Care S. Kirshbaum. 

Lesson Stories for Kindergarten Grades of the Bible 

School L. S. Palmer. 

Education Spencer. 

Memory — What It Is and How to Improve It __Kay. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 40S 

Elementary Psychology and Education Baldwin. 

Pestalozzi ... De Gumps. 

Herbart De Garmo. 

Text Book in Psychology Herbart. 

FroebePs Gifts 

Proebel's Occupations . 

Education by Development . .^ Froebel. 

Baptist Sunday School Manual Chalmers. 

Sunday School Teacher Training Howell. 



*< 



PART IV. 
THE PUPIL, 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Quotation from Herbart. 

1. The Study of the Pupil. 

2. The Personality of the Pupil. 

3. How the Mind Learns. 

4. Studying" the Pupils by Groups. 
.5. Childhood. 

6. Adolescence. 

7. The Adult. 

8. Bible Teaching Values. 

9. How to Lead a Pupil to Christ. 
10. The Training of the Pupil. 

Bibliography. 



"The first, though by no means complete 
science of the educator, would be a psychology 
in which the total possibilities of human activity 
were sketched a priori. I think I recognize 
the difficulty as well as the possibility of such a 
science. Long will it be before we have it, longer 
still before we can expect it from teachers. Nev- 
er, however, can it be a substitute for observation 
of the pupil; the individual can only be discov- 
ered, not deduced. The construction of the pu- 
pil on a priori principle is therefore a mislead- 
ing expression in itself and is also at present an 
empty idea which the science of education cannot 
handle for a long time.'* — Herbart in "Introduc- 
tion to Education." 



"The chief problem which child study has to 
solve is to determine the time at which each in- 
stinct of man is naturally most prominent. This 
being done, the problem of the educator is to 
apply the right stimuli at the right time, so as 
to produce the most perfect and rapid devel(^ 
ment along desirable lines." — Kirkpatrick. 



I. 

THE STUDY OF THE PUPIL. 

The study of the pupil should go hand in 
hand with that of the teacher, for what we 
learn of the pupil is intended to guide us in 
our method of teaching, and the time to 
apply it is as fast as we learn. 

The best way to acquire a working knowl- 
edge of what is comprehended under the 
study of The Teacher, The Pupil and The 
School, is to use a large chart that combines 
all that is now known of all three of these 
subjects, so that the knowledge may be cor- 
related in such a way as to make the study 
practical and really helpful. Such a chart 
is published on another page in Part V, in 
this book, and it would be a capital plan if 
the superintendents of our Sunday schools 
would have a large painting made of the 
same to be placed permanently on the wall 
m such a place as will keep before the 
mind of the teachers at all times so as to 

(411) 



412 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

review and suggest in teaching the differ- 
ent grades. 

There is no question about the value de- 
rived from the study of the pupil. When 
once this study is appreciated there will 
follow a deeper interest in the study of the 
mind and the science of teaching. Because 
interest in teaching centers so largely about 
the pupil, and because the central position 
of the child must be recognized to bring the 
teacher to a thorough preparation in psy- 
chology and pedagogy, several of the stand- 
ard books on teacher training make the 
study of the pupil first in the course. This, 
however, could be justified only upon the 
supposition that the teacher already has 
attained a mastery of the Bible, which sup- 
position is utterly unwarranted. The first 
study in any course for the Sunday school 
teacher should be the Bible not only from 
a historical standpoint but also from a 
spiritual standpoint, because thus only will 
his personality be so affected as to guar- 
antee the best results. 

But the study of the pupil is of the high- 
est importance as to pointing the w^ay to 
the proper method to employ in teaching. 



. HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 413 

This would apply to the orator, or lectur- 
er, or any public speaker, who wished to 
impress his hearers with his own ideas. 
One must make a study of the people whom 
he is to address in order to influence and 
carry them. Human nature must receive 
a great deal of attention from men who 
wish to sway men's minds. It is necessary 
to learn how the people look at a matter in 
order to so present it as to receive their 
approval and support. Pope said, "The 
proper study of mankind is man," or human 
nature. The study of the pupil is fully 
worth the pains, not only because it helps 
us to teach, but it is an essential part of 
that greater study of human nature the 
knowledge of which is so helpful in many 
different ways. A person cannot under- 
stand the Divine nature except through a 
knowledge of human nature, for our only 
revelation and interpretation of God comes 
to us in terms of human nature which is 
from the known to the unknown. We study 
the child and learn right educational meth-' 
ods, and as we begin to appreciate the laws 
of pedagogy we have a better understand- 
ing of Jesus, the Master Teacher. Jesus 



414 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

said and did certain things that cannot at 
all be understood except from the stand- 
point of the teacher, but the new education 
is a new appreciation of Jesus. The new edu- 
cation as exemplified in the teaching of 
Herbart and Froebel, and as illustrated in 
up-to-date pedagogy is a result of the study 
of the child, and one cannot apply these 
methods who is ignorant of child nature. 
The principle of self -activity and mental evo- 
lution is what makes modern teaching so 
radicaMy different from former methods. 
A teacher can only build upon what the pu- 
pil already know^s, and if he teaches what 
he already knows he is doing poor business, 
and it is up to the teacher to learn the scope 
of his pupils' knowledge by studying in a 
general way all children, and in a special 
way the group he is to teach. 

But the teacher must especially aim to 
discover the particular interests of the in- 
dividual pupil, and the general interests of 
the class, in order to be able to secure and 
hold attention, and attention is necessary 
to reach both the intellect, the sensibility, 
and the will of the pupil. We sometimes 
speak of voluntary and involuntary atten- 
tion, but interest underlies both, for a per- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 411 

son will hardly tax himself to the point of 
real attention by an act of the will except 
for some over-powering motive, and the mo- 
tive will be found in special interest. It can 
be readily seen that interest plays a most 
commanding part in education because 
there is no teaching or learning without 
attention and no attention without interest. 
And it is no easy matter to secure this in- 
terest which is so necessary; and the 
trouble comes from not knowing the pupil's 
interests. The study of the pupil is the 
only possible way to put teachers in line to 
learn the interests of their scholars. We 
study the individual child, and then groups 
of children, and the study never will be 
completed, but great gain will come if the 
teacher training books can only bring teach- 
ers to the point of observing their scholars 
closely, and then associating with them in 
a social way outside of the regular school 
session. This subject cannot be put too 
strondy before Sunday school teachers, 
for it is often so inconvenient to mingle so- 
cially with the pupils that it may be con- 
cluded unnecessary after all. Teachers will 
give a dozen reasons showing just why it 



416 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

cannot be done, but when they have offered 
the best excuse, it still remains true that 
the interests of the pupils can be learned in 
no other way so well, and our teaching is 
ineffective for lack of interest and attention. 
But all teachers will not regard visiting pu- 
pils or meeting them often upon a social 
plane as so impractical, and these will be 
greatly helped, and know better how to 
touch a chord that will lead to response. 
Social mingling with the scholars can take 
place otherwise than by personal visits, if 
teachers will meet the class once a month in 
their own homes or the homes of pupils. But 
some way must be found for the teacher to 
get a better knowledge of the pupils indi- 
vidually both as to living conditions, hab- 
its, inclinations, and likes, and dislikes. Of 
course, it is easier to know^ the state of in- 
tellectual development, but it would be very 
helpful if the teacher would drop in upon 
his pupils in the day school classes, and wit- 
ness the day school teacher handle his 
scholars and learn better how to get the 
point of contact on Sunday. After all, an 
occasional visit to the public school to spend 
at least one hour watching his own Sunday 
school pupils will accomplish more than any 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 417 

other one visit anywhere, for the pupils will 
especially appreciate such attention from 
their teacher and will respond with increase 
of interest in the Sunday school class and 
work. 



QUESTIONS. 

1. Write out Kirkpatrick's quotation in front of this 
lesson. 

2. What is the best way to acquire a working knowl- 
edge of all forms of the teacher training studies? 

3. Copy in full the teacher training chart on pages 
553 and 554. 

4. What is the general benefit to the teacher from the 
study of the pupil? 

5. Name two great German educators mentioned in 
the lesson and find out more about them from an 
encyclopedia. 

6. What is the value of a study of human nature? 



II. 

THE PERSONALITY OF THE PUPIL. 

It was once the impression that a teach- 
er could mold a pupil according to his own 
idea so that he would never be able to break 
himself away from the impression made 
upon him. Such is the idea of Fichte who 
said : "If you would have any influence over 
man you must do more than merely talk 
to him ; you must make him — ^make him so 
that it is impossible for him to will other- 
wise than you wish him to will." This gives 
a very high value to education and it would 
be fortunate if it were true. It certainly 
is true in the case of some teachers and pu- 
pils, and not because the pupil cannot will 
other than as his teacher planned, but be- 
cause he does not desire to do so. This comes 
from the strong personality of a teacher in 
touch with a weaker personality in his pu- 
pil, and shows also the difference between 
training and teaching. Training is the 

(419) 



420 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

overbearing personality of the trainer 
working upon the passive and willing mind 
of the person who is trained, but this is not 
education, it is not teaching. It crushes and 
enslaves, while education brings freedom as 
taught by the greater German educator, 
Froebel, who was a firm believer in the 
Christian religion and the Bible, and no 
doubt was greatly influenced by the state- 
ment of Jesus : "And ye shall know the truth 
and the truth shall make you free." Jesus, 
no doubt, meant for his statement a univer- 
sal application, and Froebel thus applied it, 
and it is now regarded an essential ele- 
ment of real education to bring the pupil 
spiritual as well as intellectual freedom. 
No man is due more credit for the contribu- 
tion made to the course of education than 
Frederick Froebel, the founder of the 
Kindergarten Movement. He was an orig- 
inal thinker because an original investiga- 
tor, and being a devout believer in Jesus 
Christ, teachers would do well to read his 
"Education of Man" and other books. He 
first focused attention upon the child as the 
key to unlock the door into the mysteries of 
educational science, and he taught that a 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 421 

child is not only a child of humanity, but al- 
so a child of nature and also a child of God, 
and that education should fit him to real- 
ize the highest ends as a human being, as 
a master of nature, and as a son of God in 
full harmony with the divine will. In oth- 
er words, Froebel did not consider a per- 
son thoroughly educated until his will had 
been brought in harmony with the Divhie 
will. This places religious instruction where 
it belongs. 

Froebel taught that there is implanted in 
the mind and nature of each child the prin- 
ciples of self -activity, and that nothing can 
be assimilated to become a part of the 
mind until the child's own mind has func- 
tioned in accordance with its nature to ac- 
quire and assimilate knowledge. He made 
endless investigation, and built upon this hy- 
pothesis an educational system for children 
that has proven his position correct, and 
there is now well-nigh universal acquies- 
cence in his philosophy. The German Gov- 
ernment opposed Froebel, but if this great 
educator instead of the Kaiser had been 
followed, Germany would not be where she 
is at present. Froebel taught that the 



422 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

child's own nature is to show us the true 
method of teaching and we are to study its 
impulses and instincts as foreshadowing the 
development of the will and personality. 

As Mrs. Lamoreaux has pointed out in 
her book on "The Unfolding Life," just as 
every flower in the garden has to be espec- 
ially studied because each one is different 
from the other, in order to learn how it is 
to be cultivated properly to the end that it 
may properly grow and bear flowers or 
fruit: so each child is different from the 
otjier, and one study will not answer for 
all, but each particular child is to be studied 
separately so as to learn how to cultivate 
its mind and reach its heart. 

All the pupils may attend to the same in- 
struction, but each one will in some particu- 
lar understand in a way different from the 
other, and since we know this of the pupil 
we can shape our methods accordingly. We 
need never consider that there can be any 
proper impression unless we test it by an 
expression on the part of the pupil so as to 
let us see where one differed from the oth- 
er in receiving the impression. The course 
of nature is irresistible as we can see where 



MOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE 423 

we put a band around a growing pumpkin, 
for instance. Since self -activity and self- 
development constitute the nature of the 
mind implanted at birth, education should 
aim not to stand in the way of nature, but 
rather to assist it. This law of the evolu- 
tion or unfolding of the mind has always 
been impressively illustrated in the many 
cases of self-made individuals who exhibit 
remarkable development and use of the 
mind without attendance upon formal in- 
struction. These particular individuals 
reached the point of freedom from the fet- 
ters that hold the mind in thraldom by rea- 
son of strong will power and personality, 
which would brook no interference from in- 
feriors. This is illustrated in an apocry- 
phal account of the childhood of Jesus in 
the Protevangelium of the Virgin Mary, 
where a schoolmaster is represented as try- 
ing to teach Jesus the alphabet; but Jesus 
would not pass from the first to the 
second letter, because he claimed he had 
not received proper information about the 
first one. This foolish method was so illog- 
ical or impractical as a way to teach read- 
ing that our Lord refused to do violence to 



424 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

his own mental constitution by such a proc- 
ess. 

The teacher should encourage the child 
to mental effort by commending what he 
does and lead the child in this way to re- 
spect his own efforts, and conclusions. Such 
self-respect bears great fruit in after years, 
for the pupil is encouraged to try and try 
again. It also builds up a will and a per- 
sonality. The teacher should expect much 
of his pupils, and let them see he is expect- 
ing much of them. With all this he should 
possess a strong personality of the right 
kind himself, and when the pupil sees his 
own personality is respected he will be 
drawn that much more to admire the per- 
sonality of his teacher. The teacher will 
have to avoid telling instead of teaching. 
Say only enough to lead the pupil to pass 
from one point to another and finally form 
his own conclusion. The question may be 
employed to advantage, if it is one that 
leads by easy stages to the desired end. 
But let the teacher ever hold in mind that 
his little girl or boy pupil may one day grow 
to great power, if only his will and person- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 425 

ality are not crushed by a teacher with 
wrong method and spirit. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is an abuse of a teacher's personality as in 
this lesson? 

2. Describe personality in the pupil and its effects. 

3. What should be a teacher's attitude toward the pu- 
pil's personality, and why? 

4. Next to Jesus, who taught us most about the value 
a^nd place of personality in the pupil'? 

5. How does personality in the pupil show itself? 

6. What does Mrs. Lomoreaux' book teach on this mat- 
ter? 

7. What apocryphal anecdote of Jesus' childhood is 
given in this lesson? 



III. 

HOW THE MIND LEARNS. 

The teacher studies the pupil to find out 
how his mind learns, and it is now in order 
to point out some things that we have 
learned about the working of the human 
mind beginning with the child. 

The first fact that confronts us is that a 
little infant has no mind at first, and knows 
nothing, and all that he will ever know he 
is to learn after his mind begins to func- 
tion. The mind begins to operate as the re- 
sult of certain impressions, or sensations, 
made upon it through what we have called 
the five senses, but which are now consid- 
ered to be seven senses. These senses pro- 
duce sensations upon the brain through cer- 
tain nerves whose ends come in contact with 
certain things and conditions. For instance, 
through the auditory nerves the sound 
reaches the brain, and the mind receives a 
definite impression of sound. The child 

(427) 



428 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

opens its eyes and the mind gets an impres- 
sion of light. All the child will ever know 
about the outside world must come to its 
mind through the senses. It becomes im- 
portant, therefore, that the cViilti's senses 
should be in perfect condition in order to do 
their work perfectly, for if one sense is de- 
ficient and does not properly function the 
child is deprived of one channel that should 
help to make his mind what it should be. 
The lesson for the teacher here is that the 
first effort at teaching the child' should be 
an effort to train its senses to function prop- 
erly and to see that no sense is neglected 
in the training. Of course the senses are: 

1. Seeing. 

2. Hearing. 

3. Smelling. 

4. Tasting. 

5. Feeling. 

6. Temperature. 

7. Muscular. 

The sense of sight comes first in this list, 
for when it is normal and properly trained 
it can be made to serve the purpose of near- 
ly all the other senses, and it will help to 
more thoroughly impress the other senses. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 420 

All of the senses co-operate to heighten the 
impression of each other, but sight makes 
possible a better impression in a shorter 
time. It is maintained by some psychologists 
that the greatest and most indispensabfe of 
all the senses is that of touch, including as it 
does the modifications of the temperature 
and muscular sense ; for if touch with tem- 
perature and muscles should fail to function, 
a person could not live. 

The story of Helen Keller is a remark- 
able illustration of the place of touch among 
the senses, for she was blind and deaf and 
dumb, and yet through her sense of touch 
she not only learned to read, but she finally 
educated herself by the aid of a patient and 
skillful teacher. We have a way of think- 
ing nature compensated her by giving her 
a wonderful touch sense, but psychologists 
claim that a sense can only develop by ex- 
ercise ; and her story goes to show that this 
one sense of touch contributes as much to 
the mind as the three senses she had lost, 
or at least she overcame their loss very 
largely. Laura Brid^eman is another such 
illustration. To say the very least about the 
sense of touch, we must recognize that it 
is capable of greatly assisting to convey im- 



430 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. , 

pressions to the mind, and the lesson to 
teachers is that in teaching small children 
they should be allowed to touch the object 
used to illustrate the lesson. The teacher of 
the Beginner's Class should think much 
about sense development in teaching, and 
be very considerate of the children, for some 
sense may fail to function, and this may 
cause dullness or listlessness, or disorder. 

Another factor in mental development is 
the instinct of the pupil. It was once taught 
that only the lower animals had instinct, 
but now it is generally recognized that hu- 
man beings also have instincts, but that 
they do not show up at the same time, or as 
early, as in the case of the lower animal. 
After early life, instinct shows itself most 
decidedly in connection with the propaga- 
tion of the species, and this is true of both 
man and the lower animals. By reason of 
fewness of the human instincts, infancy is 
extended over a long period, and the hu- 
man life extends longer than that of the 
lower animal with some few exceptions. It 
is considered fortunate that the child's in- 
fancy is so long drawn out, for he learns to 
adjust himself to more changing situations 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 431 

than instinct could accustom him. The low- 
er animal's environment is pretty much the 
same at all times, and hence his instinct 
ripens earlier. But it is a fact that instincts 
do not always show themselves at the same 
tinfe, but in the case of man there is a peri- 
od in life when a certain instinct comes to 
the front; and until the instinct ripens the 
mind cannot be impressed along that line. 
The lesson from this is that teachers should 
so grade instruction as to time it to the rip- 
ening of the instinct. It is upon this prin- 
ciple that the strictly graded literature is 
founded, which holds the pupil to the class 
of information his already ripened instincts 
enable him to acquire and assimilate. This 
matter of timing the effort to the instinct 
is of signal help in evangelism as well as 
in indicating what aspect of religious edu- 
cation should be taught throughout the 
course of th^ pupil. We now know that it is 
idle to call upon bednners to repent of 
their sins at that tender age when they have 
no idea of sin, the limitation of their experi- 
ence at such a state of development making 
such a conception impossible. However, when 
the pupil enters upon the period of ado- 



432 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

lescence his religious instinct asserts itself 
as never before, and his experience at this 
age prepares him to see the need of repent- 
ance, for he feels himself a sinner for the 
first time in his life. The teaching value of 
this discovery is that we should stress sin 
and repentance here, i. e., in adolescence, 
and that before this time we should present 
God as loving his children and Jesus as 
Friend and Saviour. 

The teaching science informs us that we 
must expect to reach the pupil's mind 
through the laws of the mind, and that the 
way he usually thinks he will have to think 
in the lesson. It is important to know how 
knowledge, enters the mind and is assimi- 
lated, and this we learn begins with the Per- 
ception of the sensation. Then the memory 
brings back into the mind images of other 
Perceptions, and the Imagination creates 
new images of other Perceptions or ideas, 
and the result is thought or Conception, 
Then Memory brings back previous Percep- 
tions and Conceptions, and the Imagination 
works over the mental pictures in a way 
different from the originals, and the Reason 
works up the whole and gives us Judgment. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 433 

But the mind has to be in a certain condi- 
tion in order to acquire Perceptions, and to 
reason, and this condition is expressed by 
the word Attention and this condition is the 
result of the appeal to Interest. 

On account of this information, we know 
better how to proceed in the teaching proc- 
ess to secure results, and all teaching must 
regard the following formal steps: 

1. Preparation of the pupil's mind for 
the lesson. 

2. Presentation of the facts of the les- 
son. 

3. Association illustrated by previous 
knowledge. 

4. Generalization : new truth found and 
isolated. 

5. Application to body of knowledge. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Name the senses. 

2. Which seems most essential? 

3. How do we g-et seven senses? 

4. Why should objects be used in teaching little chil- 
dren? 

5. Define instinct. 

6. Describe difference between instinct of man and 
brute. 

7. What is the significance of instinct in teaching? 

8. Explain the process by which the mind learns. 
Sig.— 15. 



"What the educator should care for must lie 
open before him like a map or if possible like the 
plan of a well built city, in which sets of lines 
having similar directions always intersect at ex- 
actly the same angle, and in which the eye finds 
itself at home without preparation." — Herbart in 
Introduction to Science of Education. 



STUDY OF THE PUPIL. 
CHILDHOOD. 



EARLY 



MIDDLE 



LATER 



Beginner 



Primary 



Junior 



4 and 5. 



Active 

Plays alone 

Ima^nation 

Feelings dominant 

Dependent 

Fearful 

Shy 

Animism 

Affectionate 

Self-willed 

Egoistic 

Ruled by senses and 
instincts 



6, 7, 8. 



9, 10, 11 



Play imitative 
Imagination 
Openness 
Consistency 
Memory pictures 
Curiosity 
Will growing 
More social 
Budding reason 



Ruled by parents and 
teachers 



Growing independ- 
ence 
Play competitive 
Sexes apart 
Imagination 
Will develops 
Reason 
Feeling 
Teasing 
Hero worship 
Loyalty 

Verbal memory 
Habits fixing 
Gangs 
Boys fight 

Altruistic 

Ruled by laws and 
peers 



ADOLESCENCE. 



EARLY 



MIDDLE 



LATER 



Intermediate 



^ 



Senior 



I Young People 



12, 13, 14 



Companionship 
Play competitive 

Entire revolution 

Less energy 

Organizing 

Critical 

Moody 

Self-conscious 
Intellectual 
Social instinct 

Morality 

Religion 

Quality 

Conversion 

Ruled by sentiment 



15, 16, 17 



18, 19, 20 



Conscience 

Conversion 

Increased energy 

Critical 

Intellectual) 

Aspiring 

Sentiment and 

mance 
Leadership 
Social 
Morality 
Religion 
Highest tendency 

wrongdoing 



ro- 



to 



Ruled by sentiment 
and will 



Fully developed 
Endurance 
Disallusionized 
Individuallity 
Doubt 

Many interests 
Sex aittraction 
Social Dife 
Courageous 
Self-sufficient 
Social Life 

Experience as authori- 
ty 
New moral vision 
Comradeship 



Ruled by reason, emo- 
tion and will 



IV. 

STUDYING THE PUPIL BY GROUPS, 

It has already been pointed out in this 
book that no two pupils are alike by nature, 
and that in teaching, each one understands 
the points of a lesson in a different way in 
proportion as he differs in his make-up from 
the others, and the difference spells per- 
sonality in the pupil which is so essential to 
true education that it is by all means to be 
encouraged and developed. But it can be 
readily seen that if each pupil is to receive 
personal instruction in a class the work be- 
comes too difficult of accomplishment. We 
must therefore push our study of pupils to 
the point to ascertain whether they may not 
be so grouped for class purposes as to enable 
the teacher to successfully know and teach 
them all together, at least to the extent of 
arousing their interest and securing their 
attention. 

(437) 



438 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

On account of the fact that the instincts 
ripen at different ages, and on account of 
the laws governing the development and 
growth of the mind, all the pupils of the 
same year of age might be grouped in the 
same class, for although the one pupil would 
differ from the other, still each would be 
more like the other than in any other group- 
ing, for pupils of the same year of age ordi- 
narily have about the same instincts and 
experience. We recognize that some children 
of the same year of age do not begin to have 
the same knowledge as other children of the 
same age, but they do have the same gener- 
al human experience. Moreover, in Sunday 
school work, experience counts for more 
than knowledge. Paul says in I Cor. 2:14, 
what is very true: "The natural man re- 
ceiveth not the things of the spirit of God : 
for they are foolishness unto him; neither 
can he know them, because they are spirit- 
ually discerned." Experience takes the 
place of knowledge as a basis of grouping 
in the Sunday school, and children of the 
same year of age have had pretty much the 
same general experience. Therefore, the 
classes that are composed only of pupils of 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 439 

the same age can be taught to a better ad- 
vantage than if different ages are repre- 
sented in the same class : and the good teach- 
er will know better how to get the interest 
and attention, and the pupil will understand 
better. The ideal arrangement of the 
graded idea and the graded literature is 
that pupils are to be classified solely in this 
way, all the scholars in all classes being of 
the same age. The graded literature is only 
intended to be used by classes composed 
only of pupils of the same year of age. If 
any departure is made from this unvarying 
rule of classification, then the advantages 
of the graded literature fail to materialize, 
for all quarterlies are arranged for sepa- 
rate years, each with different lessons; so 
that if scholars of different ages are in the 
same class they would have different quar- 
terlies with different lessons for each year; 
and the graded literature would then bring 
confusion instead of order. For this reas- 
on the graded literature will always be fo:r 
the more educated and advanced schools. 
Franklin McElfresh, Secretary of the Com- 
mittee of Education of the International 
Sunday School Association, in his book on 



440 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

Training of Sunday School Teachers and 
Officers, has this to say of graded lessons: 

"This betteir food for the child's relig^ious want is often 
denSed because teachers cannot be found ready to use 
the ^aded lesson system, and in many schools where the 
lessons have been introduced they have been dropped be- 
cause the teachers were not prepared to use them with 
skill and thoroughness to insure success." 

We must discover some other system, if 
we expect to enlist the support and coop- 
eration of the large majority of schools. 
Already progress can be reported upon a 
plan of classification, and literature that 
will not require so many teachers as the 
graded plan. Attention, for instance, is 
called to the fact that a five year old child is 
not so very different from a four year old 
child as to make it impossible to place both 
in the same class. The same is true of oth- 
er groups of years, placing three different 
years in the same class from six years up, 
so that what we formerly called department 
may now serve the purpose of grades, and 
the school could be classified as follows: 

Beginners, 4 and 5. 1 

Primary, 6, 7 and 8. > Childhood 

Junior, 9, 10 and 11. ) 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 441 

Intermediate, 12, 13, 14 \ 

Senior, ^5, 16 and 17. C Adolescence. 

Young People, 18, 19, 20 ) 

Adults, 21 and up. Adulthood 

In other words, we recognize that after 
all the radical differences between pupils 
are represented by these major groupings 
which establish themselves by the free 
choice of the groups, viz.. Childhood, Ado- 
lescence and Adulthood. These groups are 
so distinct that they should be kept sepa- 
rate altogether in the Sunday school, or 
Divisions, each under separate supervision, 
but all subject to the whole school. 

We further recognize subdivisions in 
each of these major groups. Childhood is 
spoken of as Early, Middle and Late. Ado- 
lescence is described as Early and Late, and 
Adulthood would be divided in the same 
way. All of these groups are based upon 
similarity of experience which usually 
tallies with the age, but none are so well 
founded as the three major groups. Child- 
hood, Adolescence, and Adulthood. 



442 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Copy carefulty the chart in front of this lesson. 

2. What is the basis of jading, i. e., ^ouping pupils 
in Sunday school? 

3. How are pupils in day schools ^aded? 

4. What is the so-called Graded Idea basis of jading 
the Sunday school? 

5. What does McElfresh say of the graded literature? 

6. Group the pupils by the three major groupings in 
the lesson. 

7. Group each group separately. 

8. Copy the group diagram in the lesson. 



V. 

A STUDY OF CHILDHOOD. 

In the preceding lesson on studying the pu- 
pils by groups, it was pointed out that these 
major groups represented Childhood, Ado- 
lescence, and Adulthood. Our study of the 
pupils with these three groups as the basis 
yields certain definite knowledge of valua- 
ble aid in teaching. We can not be sure of 
relating what we know of pupils to each 
particular year, but we can relate it very 
definitely to these three groups. Our further 
studies of the pupil will be as children, as 
youths, and as adults. Thus in this lesson 
we are to study childhood. We are able to 
vaguely divide childhood itself into Early, 
Middle and Later Childhood, correspond- 
ing to Beginners, Primaries, and Juniors, 
in a general way, but we can not be too 
precise as to the exact year. Early child- 
hood would, for instance, start in infancy. 

r - (443) 



444 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

Early Childhood. 

The infant comes into the world kicking, 
and his tendency to move is responsible for 
his future development, and his moving is 
closely allied with his learning. His mind 
is a blank or chaos, because his mind is de- 
pendent upon his senses for development. 
The training of the infant even up to and 
through the Beginner's Departm.ent is there- 
fore largely a training of the senses in the 
secular school, and in the Sunday school we 
can relate our teaching only to the actual 
experience of the child. The senses that 
have meant the most to the child are sight, 
and touch or feeling, and the teacher must 
reach the pupil chiefly through these two 
senses; and the object method appeals to 
touch, as the picture method employs sight. 
It is worthy to note that the mental facul- 
ty of feeling seems to be related to the sense 
of feeling, and seems to serve as the con- 
necting link of the senses to the intellect; 
so that just as the mind awakens from the 
exercises of the senses, so the mind begins 
its development with the sensibilities or 
feelings. The child at first, therefore, 
shows no intellectual qualities, but his men- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 445 

tal progress is shown only through the feel- 
ings. He is active, self-centered, imitative, 
imaginative, affectionate, shy and credu- 
lous. He plays alone, and personifies ob- 
jects toward the close of this period. These 
characteristics are manifestations of feel- 
ings mostly, and even the imagination is the 
play of the feeling upon the undeveloped 
mind, and is really the play of the mind ; for 
this child takes delight in play which is na- 
ture's method of practicing him for life, 
developing his whole body and mind. This 
child is in the midst of a wonder-world, and 
takes it all in. 

The teacher must be very tender with this 
child and careful with his own every look 
and movement, for he feels more than he 
can understand; and yet it is possible to 
be of great help to him; for religion itself 
is closely associated with feeling, and little 
children are especially adapted to the right 
kind of religious instruction. His activity 
is closely related to his development, and 
therefore his activity is to be wisely di- 
rected. Just as energy is so closely allied 
to mental progress, so is the child's activi- 
ty an expression of its energy which is des- 
tined later on to be of equal worth with in- 
tellectuality. Let the lessons be quite 



446 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

short, teach each one separately for about 
three minutes, use pictures and tell the les- 
son in a sweet story. Then let them sing, 
and sing motion songs, and then march, 
and then all of them sit around a table and 
look at the big words on the card, or in the 
Beginner's Quarterly, and color the letters. 
The teacher is even more of a study to these 
children, and she should teach them the les- 
son of love from her actions, her words and 
her feelings. 

Middle Childhood. 

This child has entered school and is less 
self -centered and more sociable, but is still 
largely under the control of his senses and 
feelings. He will now play a little with 
other children, but is still quite impulsive. 
His mind has developed considerably and 
his intellect and reason begin to function. 
His imitation now is dramatic showing in- 
tellect, just as previously it was only reflex 
action. The child is beginning to think. 
For the first time a symbol will cause a 
mental picture of a bird, etc. This indi- 
cates wonderful growth of mind and the 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 447 

child is now getting to the place where men- 
tal culture is possible, for culture is re- 
stricted largely to interpreting symbols. 
From this time on the object should give 
place to the word, and the child should be 
allowed to sit at the table in its class room 
and copy the words that the quarterlies 
print for that purpose, and some of the 
copying ought to be left for the week days 
so as to engage his mind along the same 
line through the week. The same simple 
story of the lesson, a little longer, and ad- 
dressed to the whole class now, instead of to 
each pupil. Songs, marches, motion songs 
still greatly help the instruction. As has 
been stated in another part of this book, 
these children should have a room that can 
be shut off from the other part of the school 
by sight and sound, and an organ and or- 
ganist, and teachers for every ten pupils, 
and helpers to look after the hats and rub- 
bers and other things, and help to main- 
tain order. The Cradle Roll children are 
not to be expected to attend school at all 
until four years of age, for they require too 
much attention. Let the mothers keep them 



448 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

at home, and not break up the Beginner's 
Department. 

The dramatic imitation of the child should 
suggest to the teacher to give the story to 
the child dramatically. The child's imag- 
ination at this period takes the place of 
reason, and he seems to use it in the same 
way, i. e., he goes by his imagination in- 
stead of reason. There is no need to try to 
curb it here, the only hope is to direct 
it, and lead the child to appreciate the best 
stories of the nurseries, and the best stories 
in the Bible. He cannot use reason until 
his brain reaches a higher state of growth. 
Objects are not so necessary now, for the 
child can imagine the object from words 
and pictures, i. e., other side of the picture 
that is not shown up. 

Scripture Teaching Values 

For Early Childhood, i. e., Beginners, will 
consist of those stories in the Old and New 
Testaments which stress God as the loving 
Father who protects and provides for his 
children and which show Jesus as friend 
and helper; and the purpose for teaching 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 449 

such stories should be to lead children to 
show love for God. The entire two years of 
four and five year pupils should be to give 
stories of this nature, which should be 
short, simple and sweet, because the child's 
experience is so limited he could not grasp 
and understand more at the present stage. 

For Middle Childhood, i. e.. Primaries. 
The experience of these pupils is somewhat 
more extensive. Here we aim to inspire 
the pupil to live with reverence toward God, 
and tell more of the love and work of Je- 
sus, and aim to make the pupil make a 
choice and to obey God. Of course the 
Bible material will be the same as the Be- 
ginners and told in the same way, unless 
more dramatic. 

Do not teach much of sin against God to 
these children, for they have had no such 
experience that will enable them to under- 
stand that they are sinners. They are in 
union with God as little children, and that 
is why Baptists do not baptize infants and 
^little children. Very often children will 
cry when told of sin, but they are generally 
at this age moved to please the mother or 
teacher. The fact is, at this age, the pu- 



450 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

piFs mind has not developed to the point 
where his conversion represents his own 
free will and choice. So dwell on God's 
love and what it means to the child. 

Later Childhood. 

This period corresponds pretty closely to 
the Juniors, and it stands out in sharp con- 
trast from early and middle childhood. The 
brain of the child of this age has reached its 
full size, and this fact shows itself in the 
pupil's characteristics. The senses have 
now reached their highest development, 
and the mind begins to operate. Reason 
now controls the imagination, and leads to 
the forming of ideals in the minds of the 
pupils, and'^ they imitate qualities rather 
than persons; and they imagine the kind 
of man or woman they would like to be. 
This is the time to get them to decide to 
set the ideal high, and this can be done if 
the teacher is prepared for the work of 
teaching. The memory is at its best, and it 
is verbal memory, the memory of words, 
and this is the time to commit to memory 
choice portions of the Bible, and facts, his- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 451 

tory and geography. The Junior is very 
active and should be kept busy copying, 
memorizing, writing, looking up references, 
and he should be given much work of this 
kind which requires the use of the hand, 
for handwork helps to make the impres- 
sion lasting. 

The classes should be separated at this 
age and all the time afterward, and in many 
cases classes are organized at this period, 
for the Junior is disposed to be mischiev- 
ous and to cause the teacher some trouble 
to have order, but when a class decides the 
punishment a pupil should receive it great- 
ly affects him. 

The play of this child is competition, and 
he likes games, and exercise, and plenty of 
fresh air. Teachers should take Juniors 
for strolls through the. woods, and if they 
know botany the trip can be made helpful 
as well as enjoyable. The teacher should 
be especially careful of his speech and ac- 
tions, and if he is the real thing, what he 
should be, his pupils will discover it and will 
make him their ideal, and he will be able 
to greatly influence them. 

Some teachers do not like to teach these 
pupils because they are so active and full 



452 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

of energy they cannot keep still. The teach- 
er must know how to teach these Juniors, 
and direct their efforts. It is at this age 
that the instinct of getting things for them- 
selves asserts itself, and the Junior's pock- 
ets contain all sorts of things. This in- 
stinct should be carefully directed, or else 
the pupil will grow up selfish and mercen- 
ary. He should be taught to get money by 
earning it, and to contribute to help care 
for the less fortunate. He is quite suscep- 
tible to high and lofty sentiment and will 
aim to approve himself to his teacher by 
following his advice. The child of this age 
is also a great reader, for he is just learn- 
ing to read with feeling and sense, and the 
teacher has an extraordinary opportunity 
to follow up his instruction by idealistic 
literature such as we have in Christian bi- 
ographies and books especially intended for 
pupils of this age. The teacher must give 
the pupils something to do through the 
week, if they would properly train them, 
and nothing equals the reading of the prop- 
er books at this time such as "Tom Brown 
at Rugby," and similar stories. In order to 
induce the pupils to read the books the 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 453 

teacher should read them and become fa- 
miliar with the stories in a general way. 
This pupil has curiosity which is very 
strong, and curiosity is the hunger of the 
mind for knowledge, and the teacher should 
give much attention to preparation and the 
plan of the lesson, and should also plan 
much handwork and other activities for the 
class. This pupil is no longer credulous but 
is growing to become distrustful, and asks 
many questions, and these should all be 
seriously considered and answered as far 
as possible. The pupils of this age are the 
best and easiest to teach in school, provided 
always the teacher is the right person, and 
thoroughly prepares and plans each les- 
son. But if the teacher is careless and 
lazy, then this child is apt to rebuke and 
tantalize as a just punishment. 

This child is the test of the genuine teach- 
er, and it is a bad sign when teachers indi- 
cate a preference not to teach Juniors, for 
it shows the kind of teacher one is. He is 
prompt, and if the teacher knows how to 
arouse interest, the work will be easy and 
pleasant. 

It would be a capital idea to organize the 
class for social and Christian service, and 



454 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

it will prove a helpful training, and this 
is the time when right training will mean 
much. The teacher must take the lead in 
doing what he wishes his pupils to do. He 
should be sober and serious, but at the same 
time full of life and joy. The main thing 
in a teacher is not to be frivolous and silly, 
and insincere and careless in his manners, 
but dignified and yet kindly. Nothing said 
here is to be construed as justifying a teach- 
er in coming before his class in a Puritan- 
ic spirit or style, for unless his teaching is 
pleasant it will not be efficient. Teachers 
of all grades of pupils, but especially of 
children, must learn to teach pleasantly, 
and make learning pleasant and agreeable. 

Bible Teaching Values for Later Child- 
hood. 

We have already partly covered this 
ground in the preceding part of this chap- 
ter. It is not our aim to run through the 
Bible and pick out each single story or pas- 
sage suitable to these Juniors. The teach- 
er must aim to master the Bible in such a 
way that if he only knows the material 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 455 

wanted he will know exactly where to find 
it. Stories of heroes in the Old Testament 
and of Jesus in the New Testament best 
meet the needs of the period, and told in 
such way that the pupil will not think that 
you are trying to make a hero of the char- 
acter, but let him find the hero in his own 
way, and these stories only should be given 
that answer to the active nature of the Jun- 
ior. The Gospel by Mark should form the 
basis of the Jesus stories for this reason, 
but as has already been said, the pupil memo- 
rizes and writes down much Scripture and 
it is now time to try to especially interest 
him in Bible study in detail, i. e., geogra- 
phy and chronology. The aim of the Bible 
hero stories is to get the pupil to form a 
high ideal and choice. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Give the groups of childhood. 

2. Give ages of each group. 

3. Describe early childhood. 

4. Describe middle childhood. 

5. Describe lalter childhood. 

6. Classify teaching values in Bible fo each group. 



VI. 
A STUDY OF ADOLESCENCE. 

Early Adolescence. 

The period from twelve or thirteen to 
twenty is called Adolescence or the period 
of youth, which is the connecting link be- 
tween Childhood and Adulthood. When 
the pupil enters upon this period he is no 
longer a child, and the teacher who insists 
upon regarding the pupil as a child will 
lose influence over him. This is the period 
the pupils begin to drop out of school, and 
is the so-called teen age period, though the 
tendency recently is to group the twelve 
year old child with the adolescents. One 
reason why the adolescent drops out of 
school is because he does not care to be 
rated as a child, and also because he feels 
that he is misunderstood, and that no one 
cares for him. This is one of the most sig- 

(457) 



458 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

nificant periods of the pupiFs life, because 

childish things are rapidly passing away. 

He no longer is a hero worshipper, but he 

is now looking for qualities and values in 
persons and things. 

The adolescent is moved not only by 
reason, but also and especially by emotion 
and love, and these should decide the meth- 
od the teacher should employ in teaching. 
Here is the time to make the right illustra- 
tion count and serve to stamp the right im- 
pression. Only stories of fact ought to be 
used as material for illustrating, and the 
teacher should be careful to get the details 
correct. Nothing illustrates better than 
the story of young persons who found a 
high purpose and clung to it in spite of 
every opposition and temptation. This pu- 
pil likes to read stories that appeal to the 
emotion, and no greater service can be ren- 
dered them by the teacher than to be able 
to point out the right book, and give some 
idea of its contents. 

He is very sensitive and moody, and has 
a feeling of awkwardness on account of his 
rapid growth at this time. This pupil will 
respond to a sympathetic attitude on the 
part of the teacher, and it is the duty of the 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 459 

teacher to be very patient with him. The 
fact is, that the entire physical constitution 
undergoes a radical change around about 
this time, and new instincts are ripening, 
and a great and radical change is coming 
over the pupil. This is the time to look for 
conversions, for with the coming of this 
great physical change there is manifested 
a strong religious interest, and in many 
cases this interest may never have been in 
evidence before. Indeed, it is claimed in 
some quarters that there is a close rela- 
tion between the ripening of the sexual in- 
stinct and the development of the religious 
instinct, and they appear simultaneously 
generally. Of course the pupil is religious 
before this period, but the feeling of the 
guilt of sin is made especially controlling 
at this time, and it is not a difficult matter 
to convince such a pupil of his awful 
condition before God. His love of charac- 
ter and quality here cause him to desire to 
be the genuine thing, and he desires to 
square his life with the ideal that began to 
take shape in later childhood and is now 
becoming the controlling power in his life. 
Before now religion has been tausfht in 
each lesson, but only such phase of it as 



460 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

the child's experience would allow him to 
take in. Now, however, the Intermediate's 
imagination is under the control of reason, 
and the teacher should assign such por- 
tions of the Bible to the pupils to study as 
would make a strong appeal to both imag- 
ination and reason, and in teaching the les- 
son he should especially emphasize charac- 
ter and motive and spirit, which will event- 
ually tell in his making choice of the right 
ideal. This is the supreme period for con- 
version for the pupil is fully able to make 
choice that will stand for life, and special 
stress should be placed upon stories and 
parables that may lead to his conversion, 
and in teaching, the matter of accepting 
Christ should be definitely put up to the pu- 
pil. This pupil should not be given the 
hard work of the Juniors, but the Scrip- 
tures should bring out ideals for life. 

Bible Teaching Values for Early Adoles- 
cence. 

We have already indicated what Bible 
material is most suitable to these Inter- 
mediate pupils. But it is now worth while 
to stress further the use of material in the 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 461 

Bible that shows the risk and infatuation 
of temptation, and how the great men and 
women of the Bible overcame. The na- 
ture of temptation and sin may now be in- 
cluded, and also the nature of the Christian 
religion. Again, evil company should be 
shown up, and good association in our Bible 
material. 

Later Adolescence. 

This period is now represented by both 
the Senior and Young People's Departments 
in the Sunday school, and the knowledge 
and experience of these pupils enables them 
to do high class study in the Bible. Some 
of these pupils are in high schools and col- 
leges and more perhaps will be at work. 
But all of them are able to reason, and it 
is hard to reach them except in this way, 
for emotion itself is now more under con- 
trol of reason. This is the time when most 
young people make the momentous decis- 
ions of life touching religion and marriage, 
and not seldom marriage itself is consum- 
mated at this early age. This period is full 
of opportunity for the highest kind of serv- 
ice on the part of the teacher to his pupils, 



462 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

and he should enter sympathetically into 
their state of mind and undertake to help 
them. His teaching should point out the 
great issues of life, and give right ideas of 
Christian conduct and service. These pu- 
pils feel strong and equal to any task, and 
the classes should be organized so as to 
put them to work for church and communi- 
ty, and also to bind them closer to each oth- 
er in a social way, though the sexes should 
be in separate classes. 

The latter part of this period itself, from 
eighteen to twenty years of age, is the time 
to plan great organized classes especially, 
and our Sunday School Publishing Board 
has projected the great Abdemelech and 
Debbora Class Movem.ent for these pupils 
as well as adults. Often they drop out of 
Sunday school, and the organization of 
these classes will help to bring them back, 
for the work they undertake is no small 
task, and it appeals to them. 

But pupils of the same Young People's 
Department ought to have placed before 
them the claims of the church and school 
upon them for teaching service, and the 
teachers of this group should make a spec- 
ial study of the outlook and possibilities of 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 463 

Bible schools for the time, so as to be able 
to make the appeal strong. At the same 
time the need and possibilities of training 
for this teaching service should be pointed 
out. This should be done, not once or twice, 
but often, and just before the pupil is pro- 
moted to this department. It should be 
stated that if he remains in the Teacher 
Training Department for three years, he 
can not only graduate from the school, but 
from the Educational Department of our 
Board. 

Bible Material for Later Adolescence. 

The stories of the Bible are not what we 
need here, but the nature and relations of 
religion, and Christianity, and morality, and 
sociology, and psychology, and these should 
be brought out in the discussion of Bible 
material, the Kingdom of Heaven and its 
relation to the church, and the social order. 
This is the period of grave doubts on the 
part of many, and if their doubts are seri- 
ous as they usually are, the teacher should 
greatly sympathize with the pupils and aim 
to help them. At least one thing he can 
do is this: he can show that doubt is a call 



464 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

to study and investigate, and he should be 
so prepared that he can point out certain 
books for the doubting persons to read. 
Some of our greatest leaders have passed 
successfully through this doubting stage, 
by the help of right reading and the prop- 
er method of studying the Bible. The 
teacher of this grade of pupils must under- 
stand the psychology of his pupils, and of 
the times, and relate his lessons to both. 
Such practical interpretation will commend 
the Bible to our young people. The teach- 
er should study the working men and 
women's conditions and render them all 
possible aid in showing them the Christian 
attitude to present day industrial prob- 
lems. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Group the period of adolescence. 

2. Give characteristics of early adolescence. 

3. Give ag-es of each group. 

4. Describe middle adolfescence. 

5. Describe later a!dolescence. 

6. Classify teaching" values in Bible for each group. 



VIL 

THE STUDY OF THE ADULT. 

The study of the adult is what we ordi- 
narily mean by human nature, and we per- 
haps know more about the adult than we 
do of children and youths or young people. 
Unless a person has some knowledge of 
human nature he is destined to failure in 

life, and his success in promotion in life 
will be in exact ratio to his mastery of- hu- 
man nature. It is not always the most 
worthy person who obtains the coveted 
prize, but it is generally the man that knows 
how to carry men. Drummers for large 
mercantile establishments often attain to 
the highest skill in this respect, and their 
sales are so large that fabulous salaries are 
often paid them, in some cases more than 
the Senators and Representatives in Con- 
gress receive. There is nothing that brings 
larger returns in many w^ys than the study 

(465) ^ 
Sig. —16. 



466 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

and approximate mastery of the subject of 
human nature. 

Perhaps the first study along this line 
should be addressed to the Feelings, for un- 
less a person feels kindly toward one any 
transactions with such person will be un- 
satisfactory; and on the other hand, if one 
is fortunate enough to impress himself 
from the first in a favorable way, success 
is usually assured along almost any line. 
The Feeling was the first faculty of the mind 
that showed up in childhood, and no teach- 
er of little children can succeed unless he 
does so through the child's feelings. In- 
deed, the Feeling seems to dominate life in 
all stages more than the intellect, though 
the cultivated intellect usually means a 
higher state of the development of Feeling; 
but the Feeling is still dominant, for the 
Will waits upon Feeling as well as Judg- 
ment. Ordinarily, the study of the adult 
is what we call psychology, and the science 
is of great help. 

But practical experience is usually at the 
foundation of our practical knowledge along 
this line. Next to the Feeling, the intellect 
or reason dominates with adults as a gen- 
eral thing. If these both are favorably im- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 467 

pressed we succeed in carrying our 'point, 

and the Will acts. 

The lesson to the teacher is that he must 

be exceedingly considerate of the feelings 

of his pupils, and through the emotions he 

can reach them with instruction to the best 
advantage along with logical presentation. 

Bible Teaching Values for Adults. 

Of course the adult mind can be reached 
by all the teaching values in the Bible, and 
the fact is that all the Bible is high class 
teaching value to the adult. It is true that 
there are parts of the Scripture, like the 
first chapters of First Chronicles, that seem 
to most people to have little teaching value 
for anyone. But the fact is that unless the 
Bible student makes a class study of these 
•chapters he cannot lay claim to thorough- 
ness, and the higher up he is, the more he 
finds iii these chapters. 

But the adult's mind is logical and ana- 
lytic, and the study that is best suited for 
him is that of relationship. He can study any 
subject with interest where relationship is 
involved. Practical Christianity as taught 
in the Epistles make a strong appeal to him. 



468 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

and tTie application should be practical and 
suited to conditions of our own race group 
and immediate community. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. state value of adult study. 

2. Illustrate uses of a knowledg-e of human nature. 
8. How is such a knowledg'e obtainable? 

4. T^Hiat faculty of the mind pliays an important part 
in human nature ? 

5. Give g'eneral idea of teaching values in Bible for 
adult pupils. 



VIII. 

TEACHING VALUES IN THE BIBLE. 

In the introduction to this book this mat- 
ter was discussed, but it is worthy of notice 
here also. One must never study the Bible 
simply for the purpose of finding what is 
suitable to be taught to different grades of 
pupils. Such study indicates the wrong 
spirit, as well as the wrong method. Such 
information ought to be included in the 
study of the pupil and the teacher in a 
teacher training course, and the Bible on 
such a course should be studied with anoth- 
er object in view. The Bible should be 
studied for spiritual culture and for mas- 
tery, and when thus studied it means more 
in the real preparation of a teacher. It 
seems that some people are inclined to de- 
tract from the Bible as constituting the cur- 
riculum of our Sunday school, and are in- 
clined to the opinion that the Bible in itself 
is of no service as a means of real education. 

(469) 



470 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

There used to be a time when the Bible was 
studied as the best means to attain spirit- 
ual ends, which is the highest end of all 

education. But in these days some of the 
reputed Sunday school experts are almost 
inclined to eliminate the Bible as a whole, 
and only pick out certain parts of the book 
as deserving merit and suitable to teach 
and these parts are called teaching values. 
Now the real fact is that the entire Bible 
has teaching value of the highest order, and 
this is substantiated really by such an edu- 
cational celebrity as Froebel when he claims 
that the individual must go through the 
same process as the race to culture, for the 
Bible gives the record of that growth, and 
the historical sense is inculcated, and this 
is back of all true interpretation. This 
tending to underrate the Bible is not gen- 
eral, but only a few persons who happen to 
hold high positions impose it upon others. 
Even higher criticism holds that the history 
is the basis of interpretation, and these per- 
sons are not exactly experts in the science 
of education. The reason why the Interna- 
tional Lesson Committee clings to the Uni- 
form Series is because of the confidence the 
Christian world has in Bible study as such. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 471 

The Graded Literature is very excellent in 
some respects, but the fact is, it is more of 
the nature of a Bible reading than a Sun- 
day school lesson. It is more a reference 
study than a study that would assist to the 
mastery of the systematic and thorough 
teachings of the word. The Bible has pow- 
er of' a most extraordinary kind to trans- 
form an individual and a people, and this 
power is not released upon superficial study 
for reference. There is a constructive idea 
that runs through the Bible, and the idea 
is never fully grasped until it is followed at 
every point and through to the end. Under 
the Bible part of this book this will appear 
in the historical portion. The fact is, the 
connected narrative of the Bible has to be 
mastered and taken into consideration in 
all interpretation, and the interpretation 
is trustworthy just in proportion as it has 
regard to the history which will show the 
development of the idea in the Bible. 

It has already been pointed out that those 
who planned the Teacher Training Course 
state that certain knowledge of the Bible is 
presupposed but it would be far more rea- 
sonable to presuppose that the pupil has no 
such knowledge. There is a great deal of 



472 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE, 

superficiality that is masquerading in these 
days as scholarship, especially in religious 
education. It is all right to prepare to 
teach the pupil, but unless the teacher has 
special insight into any subject he is not a 
teacher, in fact, for keen perception is the 
one prerequisite of successful teaching, and 
this is true in a double sense in religious 
study and teaching. The teacher needs 
God's Spirit, and the Spirit relates himself 
to the word and they both go together. 

As already indicated, all the Bible has 
high teaching value to all classes of people. 
It would be much more appropriate to mod- 
ify the term teaching values, and state ex- 
actly what grade is to be reached. But 
there is no special Bible study even then for 
these values. Study the Bible for personal 
value, and that will help to teach. It is the 
business of a Bible or a religious teacher to 
master the Bible, or aim to do so. And if he 
knows the Bible, he can then find what he 
wants. As already indicated, all the Bible 
has high teaching value to all classes. 

The matter of the proper class of Bible 
material suitable to reach each grade is one 
that is interesting primarily to those who 
select the lessons and prepare the literature, 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 473 

but we shall point out in the accompanying 
chart the class of Bible material most suit- 
able to different grades, but will not name 
particular passages for it is up to the com- 
petent teacher to know where to find what 
is wanted in the Bible. This chart is a 
careful study of the graded system of les- 
sons which is based upon child study, and 
the plan is to select such Bible material as 
best meets the needs of the pupils of differ- 
ent grades. 

The information of the proper teaching 
values of the Bible is given in order that the 
teacher may bear in mind while teaching 
exactly what class of material it takes to 
reach his pupils, it matters not what kind 
of lessons or literature he may use. If the 
teacher knows this he can so teach any les- 
son as to bring teaching value with few ex- 
ceptions. This teaching value idea is the 
reason w^hy the International Lessons 
for different grades are not alike always. 
The idea is that if there is nothing in the 
regular passage for the school suitable to 
children that another passage must be chos- 
en for the children. Perhaps, the teacher 
has already noticed that children and 



474 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

young people and adults' lessons are not 
all the same even now in the new Interna- 
tional Lessons, and this will have to be noted 
more in the future than in the past by the 
teachers. 



TEACHING VALUES IN OLD AND NEfW TESTAMENTS, 






Q 
O 
O S 

o 



CD 



CRADLE ROLL 
1-3 



BEGINNERS 
4-5 



PRIMARY 

6, 7, 8 



JUNIOR 
9, 10. 11 



Goodness of God 
God and Jesus 



God as Father, Jesus as Ct 



Pleasing God 
Learning to do good 



Stories of olden times 
Hero Stories 
Kingdom Stories 



O 

H 
O 

>^ 
O 
P 






INTERMEDIATE 
12, 13, 14 



SENIOR 
15, 16, 17 



YOUNG PEOPLE 

18, 19, 20 



Gospel Stories 
Leaders of Israel 
Christian Leaders 



Life of Christ 
Christian living 
Efficiency for service 



Study of Heroes 



Study of Ideals 



Study of Principles 



Compare Jews' and Christian religion^ 
or Old and New Testament 
New Testament times and history 
Bible and social living 



Critical Stud 



< 



ADULTS 
21 up 



HOME 

16 up 



Bible and social living- 
Study of Prophets of Israel 
Kingdom principles 



Social and Spiritual 



Home life 
Family altar 
• Social standards 
Religious standards 



476 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is meant by Bible teaching- values ? 

2. What criticism is made upon studying* the Bible 
primarily for teaching values in a Teacher Training 
Course ? 

3. When should such study come? 

4. What kind of Bible knov^ledge does a teacher need? 

5. Copy carefully the teaching value chart at the 

close of the lesson. 



^ IX. ^ . , , .. 

HOW TO LEAD A PUPIL TO CHFJST.. ' 

c.This is a -vital question and suggests per- 
sonal evangelism as the right way to win 
the pupil to Christ. Of course, it is all out 
of the question to think of a teacher leading 
a pupil to Christ unless the teacher is a 
Christian himself, and unless his religion 
is a source of joy and help to him. He 
must talk much of his own joy in Christ and 
talk enthusiastically. He must have Jesus 
on the mind as he personally runs across a 
pupil during week days, and do not wait 
until the class meets and talk to all the mem- 
bers together. The best work in the salva- 
tion of souls is always a personal work. In 
the Gospel of John we see how the first of 
the disciples of Jesus came through per- 
sonal work, and these proved to be more 
dependable than the other disciples with 
one or two exceptions. The teacher is to get 
the idea that it is through his personal 
touch with the individual pupil that conver- 

(477) 



478 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

sion is to be expected, and the teacher can 
do more through his personal experience 
to impress Jesus upon them than through 
mere class teaching. Of course, before con- 
version can take place, the child's mind 
must come to itself and the brain must 
function through reason and feeling to 
willing, for conversion is finally a matter 
of the will. The very young child cannot 
use its reason as a starter, and this re- 
mains true throughout infancy and early 
childhood. Not until middle childhood or 
the primary age is the pupil fully able to 
distinguish fact from fancy by reason of 
the functioning of the reason, and his abili- 
ty to pay attention a little better shows the 
will is beginning to awake. But it is to- 
ward the close of late childhood, or at the 
beginning of early adolescence, that the 
mind has attained its powers of reason, 
feeling and willing. It is around this period 
that the religious instinct ripens and the 
conscience begins to bring out the idea of 
duty, and for the first time the pupil begins 
to realize the fact of sin, and it is not hard 
to still further lead him to see that he is a 
sinner in the sight of God, and if a proper 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 479 

foundation has been laid, the pupil's con- 
version might be expected. 

It seems that the religious instinct does 
not ripen until around the period of early 
adolescence, and science teaches that we 
must be prepared to present the subject at 
the right time. Froebel teaches that the 
child is at unity with God during the period 
when its mind has not reached the point of 
separation. Our Lord certainly means this 
when he says : "Suffer little children to come 
unto me, and forbid them not, for of such 
is the Kingdom of Heaven," i. e., there is no 
break between the innocent child and its 
heavenly Father, but the child is in har- 
mony with God. But later on when his in- 
stincts ripen and conscience forms and he 
begins to see how he comes short of his own 
ideals and of Jesus Christ's, he realizes him- 
self at break with God as he begins to look 
in upon himself. 

The little child is taught of God's love 
and care and protection and he is urged to 
be thankful and obedient and to do right. 
All of this is easy to take in because it ac- 
cords with the child's experience thus far. 
As he enters the Junior age his love to read 
and memorize will cause him to know more 



480 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

of Jesus and his word, and the word itself 
brings conviction of sin. From the very 
beginning the teacher should have in mind 
the conversion of the child, but it is need- 
less to try to convince the child of sin until 
he is able to understand his relation and 
duty to God. "Against thee and thee only 
have I sinned/' cried David, and the child 
must reach the point in its experience where 
it becomes possible to realize that it is not 
against his teacher, nor his fellow pupils, nor 
his parents, but against God he has sinned. 
In other words, it ought not to be expected 
of a child to do what he cannot do. His 
mind does not reach the point where it fully 
functions until around the close of the Jun- 
ior and the beginning of the Intermediate 
Period. The teacher must lead the child 
through various stages right up to the cli- 
max, and secure the open confession of Je- 
sus. But all the time before he must have 
so impressed the pupils that they will love 
God and rely upon Jesus as a helper and 
friend and teacher and Saviour, and in the 
Junior Period he should get the pupils busy 
acquiring the very words of God from the 
Bible, for Jesus said, "The words that I 
speak unto you they are spirit," and nothing 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 481 

can take the place of the word of God in 
conversion. There is no definite age when 
a genuine conversion takes place, but it can 
not take place before the pupil's mind is ca- 
pable of deliberate judgment, an act of will. 
But all the time from the very beginning 
throughout the entire course, let the chil- 
dren and all others see what a joy you have 
in the service of the Master, and let your 
sympathy and love for the souls of your pu- 
pils be as genuine and intense as your love 
for Jesus, and results will follovs^. 

So far as presenting the Bible with a 
view to the conversion of the pupil, there 
is really no other way to teach the Bible 
properly. The teacher must be in earnest 
in thought and in deed. One thing is very 
certain, and that is, that a teacher must 
choose between the ballroom and Jesus, if 
she would win her pupils to Jesus. And un- 
less the pupil's conversion is the real object 
of her teaching, she might as well resign 
right now. Example speaks louder than 
words, and a teacher cannot lead his pupils 
to both Jesus and the ballroom. Whether 
it is a sin to dance or not, it is a fact that 
those who dance cannot win others to Je- 
sus. This is a fact, and the fact itself ought 






482 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

to show whether dancing is right or wrong. 
Dancing is not the only evil, and the teach- 
er must let her pupils see that there is a 
difference between her and other people, 
and her way is best, as it is written : 

"Their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies 
themselves being judges." Deut. 32:31. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Wliat is personal evangelism? 

2. Around what age does a child's mind fnll^ function? 

3. State the order of development of the three mental 

faculties. 

4. What is meant by the ripening of religious instincts ? 

5. Usually, around what age is there a deep religious 
awakening in a child? 

6. How should a young child be taught religion? 

7. What is prerequisite to a dependable decision for 
Christ? 



X. 

THE TRAINING OF THE PUPIL. 

Training is not teaching, but it is included 
in it. Education should begin with training 
the child in the proper use and development 
of the senses, and all the way through his 
education the pupil should be trained in 
certain directions, and all the way through 
life afterwards he should train himself to 
do things in a certain way, and form certain 
habits. Training concerns habits and our 
lives are largely made up on habits. If it 
were not for training ourselves to certain 
habits the human race could not have made 
such wonderful progress. We learn to walk 
after much difficulty of muscular adjust- 
ment in childhood, and if we had been com- 
pelled to consciously go through this move- 
ment every time we walk, our minds would 
be so preoccupied that we could not make 
much mental progress. But fortunately, 
having practiced and exercised to the nec- 

fl^i^j-f ; V (483) 



484 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

essary extent, walking finally became a 
habit to which we trained ourselves, and we 
walk without conscious effort after start- 
ing. The same is true of writing and of 
everything else we do. We have trained 
ourselves to do them imtil we have foimed 
habits to cover all of our activities and life 
is largely made up of habits, and these hab- 
its decide our state and our destiny. One 
may be theoretically educated but if his 
habits have not been looked after and 
brought in harmony with his instruction 
his education will have little effect upon his 
life. 

We hear in these days altogether too 
much about teaching and too little about 
training. Teacher Training Courses for 
Sunday school teachei^s have in many cases 
been worked out upon such an intellectual 
basis, and the whole plan of the modem 
Sunday school follows so closely the pat- 
tern of a secular school, exalting knowledge 
above spirit, that it is high time some one 
should remind Sunday school people that 
this institution's legitimate field is training 
the untrained in religious habits as well as 
knowledge. We need constantly to be re- 
minded that Christianity is not a creed, nor 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 485 

an intellectual process, but the religion of 
Jesus is a life made up largely of certain 
habits of helpful and unselfish service to 
others ; and if the Sunday school is to make 
a real contribution to the cause of Christ 
and the local church more effort must be 
systematically made Co actually train the 
pupils to certain habits of life. The old 
proverb is surely correct that says : "Train 
up a child in the way he should go, and 
when he is old, he will not depart from it/' 
This passage expresses an unvarying truth, 
and if it ever appears to fail of fulfillment 
the cause will prove to be inadequacy of 
the training, training is established and 
habits are permanently formed by causing 
the pupil to exercise himself along certain 
lines freely and gladly until there is an un- 
conscious repetition of the act under similar 
conditions, as when the habit was being 
formed. For instance, train a child to the 
habit of preparation and attendance upon 
Sunday school each Sabbath, and after a 
while the ringing of the bells or the com- 
ing of the day will cause him to go to school. 
Train him to respect an elder, a lady, and 
to be obedient, and courteous, and industri- 



486 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

ous and religious, and even if for some 
period of his life he may wander away, 
"When he is old he will not depart from it." 
Home is the great center for training in 
the fundamental habits of life, but so few 
homes are what they should be that we must 
look to the Sunday school to give the mat- 
ter serious attention. There is now a move- 
ment on foot to reach the home to a great- 
er extent than ever before through extend- 
ing the scope of the Cradle Roll and Home 
Departments in such a way as to come in 
vital touch with the home. Enrolling 
babies in the one and reading a quarterly 
about half an hour a week in the other will 
not exert any great influence upon the 
home. So it is now proposed that system- 
atic and wise efforts should be made in con- 
nection with these departments to re- 
vive the family altar in some homes, and 
set it up in all homes possible. Certainly 
nothing can excel the family altar as a 
means of training the children, and its ef- 
fect upon the young people and adults will 
be the same. Surely, divorce with all its 
consequent evils, and dancing, and reveling 
and other social evils could not take strong 
hold upon the children from such homes. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 487 

We bemoan the tearing down of the family 
altar, and its absence from many homes ; but 
what is being done to improve the situa- 
tion ? We acknowledge with deep gratitude 
the emphasis placed upon the family altar 
by the sainted Miss Joanna P. Moore and 
the good work of the Fireside Schools. But 
one of the best ways we can honor this good 
woman would be also to undertake a great- 
er work along the line of setting up the 
family altar on the ^art of the Sunday 
school. And the most effective way to do 
this is through the Cradle Roll and Home 
Departments under plans outlined in this 
book in another place. 

Another way to stress the training work 
of the school is to plan to enlarge the Be- 
ginner's and Primary Departments, and es- 
pecially the Beginner's. Froebel, the foun- 
der of the kindergarten, planned it to be 
more of a play garden than a school and to 
train rather than to teach; and to give all 
little children the advantage of knowing 
what any children in cultured homes had 
the opportunity of learning before the sixth 
year or the time of entrance into the secu- 
lar school. At the tender aores of four and 



488 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

five years the children are still under the 
control of impulses and instincts which can 
be converted or trained, and the great pity 
is that these kindergartens are not main- 
tained for our children by the government 
more largely. The Sunday school can do 
something to help supply such training by 
making the Beginner's Department what it 
should be. 

Moreover, the entire school should be 
trained in the doctrine and polity of the 
Missionary Baptist group of churches, and 
provision should be made to care for such 
training beginning with the Junior Depart- 
ment. A good catechism of simple design 
could cover this ground and do much good. 
Our Board is prepared to furnish a cate- 
chism for use in the schools; and the cate- 
chism is still a practical way to impart 
knowledge to pupils and less informed 
teachers who have not enjoyed sufficient 
educational advantag:es to know how to read 
with the understanding. 

But whatever the plan adopted, it is high 
time that the Sunday school should return 
to training as the essential feature of Sun- 
day school work. Of course, teaching: is all 
important, and we should have more teach- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 489 

ing and better teaching than ever; but we 
should also have more training and better 
training. Let the teacher aim to reach the 
will of the pupil through his feelings, and 
let the feelings be properly trained by the 
feeling the teacher puts into his teaching. 
The main point is to get the idea that train- 
ing is essential, and the good teacher will 
find many ways to train and teach also. 

There is need of special training to induce 
the pupils to go directly from the Sunday 
school into the church services. A good 
way to train along this line is to cease to 
dismiss the school at all, but have the en- 
tire school march from the assembly room 
of the school into the main auditorium of 
the church immediatelv after the recita- 
tion period, and let them march a proces- 
sional, using hymn No. 674 in the Baptist 
Hymnal. Then when in the auditorium, 
seat the Primary and Junior pupils im- 
mediately in front of the pulpit, and the 
others behind. Then let superintendent 
make a three-minute review of the lesson 
for the day, or have some one do so who is 
prepared. Then let secretary read day's 
report. Then sing a hymn that will blend 
the Sunday school into the church service. 



490 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 



Then the pastor preaches a five minute ser- 
mon to Primary and Junior pupils, and they 
pass out, and all others remain to service. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the difference between training' and teach- 
ing-. 

2. To whai is training closely related ? 

3. What do we mean when we say Christianity is a 
life and not a creed? 

4. What is the great training base? 

5. Who was Joanna P. Moore and what did she do? 

6. What can the school do to promote training effi- 
ciency ? 

7. What is the value of doctrinal training and may it 
be promoted ? 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

The Unfolding Life Antionette Abernathy Lamoreaux. 

The study of the Chdld : A. R. Taylor. 

Fundamentals of Child Study Kirkpatrick. 

The Religious Education of Adolescents 

. Norman E. Richardson. 

Childhood and Character Hugh Hartshorne. 

Education of Man Friedrich Froebel. 

Bothering the Boy W. Edward Raffety. 

Youth and the Church Cynthia Pearl) Maus. 

Philosophy of Education Ruric N. Roark. 

Psychology of Religion G. A. Coe. 

Child Training Trumbull. 

The New Convention Manual Burroughs. 

The Pupil Weigle. 

The Sunday School Teacher*s Pupil Musselman. 

First Standard T. T. Course Barclay. 

Boy Behavior W. H. Burger. 

Child Nature and Nurture E. D. St. John. 

Child Study for S. S. Teachers Musselman. 

The Juniors — How to Teach Them Maud J. Baldwin. 

Moral! Instruction of Children Adler. 

The Intellectual and Moral Development of the 

Child — _ Compayre. 

Later Infancy of the Child Compayre. 



PART IV. 
THE SCHOOL. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Quotation from Herbart. 

1. The Place of the School, 

2. Public Schooll and Sunday School. 

3. Sunday School Org'anization. 

4. Sunday School Equipment. 

5. Housing a City School. 

6. Housing a Country School. 

7. The Graded Idea. 

8. The Pastor and the School. 

9. How to Secure Promptness. 

10. Eecreation. 

11. The Social Side. 

12. How to Secure New Teachers. 

13. Evangelism. 

14. The Opportunity of a Country Sundsty School. 

15. The Program of the School. 
Bibliography. 



THE SCHOOL. 

''Pedagogy is the science which the teacher 
should know for himself, but he must also be 
master x)f the science of imparting his own knowl- 
edge. And I here at once confess, that I have 
no conception of education without instruction, 
just as conversely, in this book at least, I do not 
acknowledge any instruction which does not 
educate. Whatever arts and acquirements a 
young man may learn from a teacher, for the 
mere sake of profit, are as indifferent to the edu- 
cator as the color he chooses for his coat. But 
how his circle of tl^ought is being formed is 
everything to the teacher, for out of thoughts 
come feelings, and from them principles and modes 
of action." — Herbart in Science of Education. 



I. 

THE PLACE OF THE SCHOOL. 

There is an increasingly large place for 
the Sunday school in the program of the 
kingdom of Christ and also in the program 
of the development of the Negro people in 
the United States. 

1. The Kingdom. Jesus projected the 
kingdom upon an educational basis, and 
was himself the greatest teacher ever upon 
earth. It was as a teacher teaching that 
he made the impression upon men that he 
was nothing less than the Son of God. John 
the Baptist was a preacher, but Jesus was a 
teacher. The Baptist made the immediate 
impression upon his hearers and his genera- 
tion; but Jesus grows on his followers 
every year. Permanent kingdom work 
must be educational as well as evan- 
gelistic. The churches must face the 
question squarely, for there is no place 
in the program of Christ for the 

(495) 



496 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

church except as it serves to min- 
ister to the kingdom's end. There is no place 
for a church that regards itself as an end 
rather than a means to an end. The church 
has committed to it the recruiting and 
training work of the kingdom. It is filling 
well its mission in recruiting, but it takes 
slowly to the training and teaching func- 
tions for which it was intended also. Reli- 
gion cannot be preached into people, it 
must be developed, and developed by the 
teaching process. Preaching usually ignores 
the inner self-activity, and proceeds from 
outside within, and reverses diametrically 
the teaching process. The most effective 
means of thoroughly impressing the Gospel 
is by teaching, employing the same method 
Jesus has taught us to use. Jesus has digni- 
fied and exalted the teaching profession for 
all times by employing teaching as the means 
of bringing the world to God, and he not 
only used this method, but he improved it 
and opened up to us the fundamental of the 
teaching science that has resulted in the 
universal interest in educational progress 
in the world at present. John passed out 
of public view in his preaching when Christ 
the teacher appeared, just as the moon fades 
away as the sun rises. Young people are 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 497 

reached by teaching rather than preaching 
and the church that neglects to foster and 
improve its church school is woefully be- 
hind the age. 

2. The Race. The Sunday school is a 
blessing to all people, but it brings double 
blessing to the community and people who 
do not enjoy a just share in the public 
school system. It is not our purpose here 
to discuss anything extraneous to the Sun- 
day school. But it is only a statement of 
the truth, and nothing but the truth, to say 
that the Colored people in the south labor 
under the great disadvantage of being 
called upon to measure up to the standard 
of American and Christian civilization, 
while at the same time an equal opportuni- 
ty is not afforded us for training in the pub- 
lic schools. Under the circumstances, it is 
a double blessing that a Sunday school is 
usually associated with every church among 
us, at least each Baptist church, while there 
are many mission schools; for we have in 
these schools what will serve to help us 
overcome in some measure the logical con- 
sequences of such shameful discrimination 
in this greatest democracy in the world. 
Thus it comes to pass that the Sunday school 
not only helps the church, but it helps the 

Sig.— 17. 



498 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

community and the race. Our Sunday 
School Publishing Board even to this day 
continues to get orders for the old time Sun- 
day School Primer because it serves as the 
only school where some pupils can learn the 
alphabet. Surely, here is a double incen- 
tive to our teachers to consecrate them- 
selves, and prepare themselves to render 
the greatest help to their classes, knowing 
the results will be far-reaching. 

For practical purposes the Sunday school 
will more than cope with the public school 
if practical living value is to be the test of 
the two schools, and it may be fortunate 
that our people come more under the in- 
fluence of the Sunday school and church 
than of the public school. But the chief 
trouble is that the great majority of our 
people are neither in the Sunday school nor 
the public school. Yet we have in these 
Sunday schools a potent influence to shape 
the lives of the masses of our young people, 
and we must awake to the situation, and 
behold our opportunity, and put on a race- 
wide drive to land our boys and girls in the 
Sunday schools. 

One great cause of our predicament as 
a people is our utterly dependent position, 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 499 

due to the fact that we do not get together 
and co-operate for the good of our race 
group. There is more of a tendency to pull 
apart than to pull together. We are being 
gradually placed in a position where we will 
be forced to pull together or go down into 
a condition as bad as slavery. If we will 
get behind this great Sunday school move- 
ment, and bring in larger numbers of young 
people, and work to raise the standard of 
instruction, the very self -activity of our 
group will help the entire race. The cause 
is altogether worthy, viewed from any 
angle, and the effort put forth in this line 
will react in bringing greater culture and 
influence to all who help to advance this 
work. 

QUESTIONS. 



1. What is the place of the school in the development 
of the kingdom of heaven? 

2. What is the work of the church as related to the 
kingdom? 

3. What is the most effective way of relig'iously im- 
pressing people, and why? 

4. What can the Sunday school contribute toward race 
uplift? 

5. What needs of our race ^oup could be met by more 
effective Sunday school work? 



II. 



THE SUNDAY SCHOOL AND THE 
PUBLIC SCHOOL. 

The Government has unfortunately been 
committed to the policy of not allowing the 
Bible to be taught in the public schools. 
And unfortunately Baptists are among the 
strongest champions of this policy on the 
ground of our opposition to the union of 
church and state, and for fear that the 
Roman Catholics may again be able to re- 
cover the hold they held long ago on secu- 
lar government. We do not stop to think 
that if the Bible had been known and read 
in those days it would have defeated their 
sinful ends, but the Roman Catholics ob- 
ject to an open Bible, and not until we had 
an open Bible did the people see the perver- 
sity of such doctrine. As long as we leave 
the Bible out of the public schools we fall 
right into their hands, and are doing what 
serves their purpose, for an open Bible will 

(501) 



502 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

destroy their church, while it is the only 
means of strengthening Christians gener- 
ally, and none more than Baptists. 
We are not here advocating the teaching of 
Baptist doctrines, nor any distinctive doc- 
trines, but the Bible ought to be taught 
historically and practically and morally to 
all pupils to a certain extent, and spiritually 
to such as choose of their own accord to 
select it as one of their studies. Of course, 
a doctrinal teaching that is not made gen- 
eral as to denominations ought not to be al- 
lowed, but the simple truth is that the most 
helpful and the most spiritual study of the 
Bible is that which aims straight at the 
truth in its broadest sense. 

The mistake is now being more generally 
recognized, and several experiments are be- 
ing made to see what can be done to reme- 
dy the situation and yet stay within the lim- 
its of the law. On the whole, it is consid- 
ered that the most that can be done, under 
the circumstances, is to devise some means 
by which pupils who are faithful and thor- 
ough in their Sunday school work may re- 
ceive credit for their work in the public 
schools they attend, and such credit as will 
serve to help them toward graduation, and 
to make up for any deficiency in some other 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 503 

subject. This is a sensible and practical 
and helpful plan, and Sunday school and 
church leaders should get and keep in 
close touch with the public school authori- 
ties and seek to have such a plan adopted. 
In the case of the colored public schools 
in the south, and more especially in the 
country districts, no opposition at all will 
usually be encountered in teaching the Bible 
to the pupils, if permission is obtained from 
the authorities. Opposition comes from 
others, and not from colored people. Church 
people should therefore take a lively inter- 
est in the appointment of teachers in pub- 
lic schools in their immediate community, 
and wherever possible, a Christian, an ac- 
tive Christian, ought to be recommended. 
Such a teacher could visit all the Sunday 
schools sometimes and his own at all oth- 
er times, and show how to teach the les- 
son and organize the school. We hear 
much about what the church and the Sunday 
school owe to the community, but we do not 
hear enough about what the public school 
can do to assist in work outside of its walls. 
It is a promising sign of the times that in 
North Carolina, at least, the teachers must 
be able to pass a successful examination in 
a certain Sunday school training book be- 



504 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

fore they will be accorded a certificate. 
This shows what can be done. Yes, it is 
becoming popular for people who do little 
to help the church to find fault of church 
work and to suggest that our doors ought 
to be thrown open to any and all kind of 
work, simply because the church is sup- 
ported* in a more or less public way. But 
in justice to the church it ought to be said 
it is the most unselfish institution in the 
world, but it ought to be spared this dicta- 
tion about turning its attention to agricul- 
ture, and industry, and science instead of 
stressing spirituality. The institution that 
ought to be requisitioned for this extra 
work ought rather to be the public school 
which is really public property and sup- 
ported at public expense. Surely, some- 
thing ought to be given public school teach- 
ers as a supplement in the way of communi- 
ty work, for there is a growing tendency 
among them toward worldliness. Some, 
however, deserve credit and special men- 
tion because they attend church and Sun- 
day school and often teach classes. But 
it ought to be expected of all public school 
teachers in so-called Christian America 
that they will undertake a definite teaching 
of the Bible on Sunday, for the reason that 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 505 

they are far better prepared to teach than 
the majority of the Sunday school teachers. 
Indeed, the chief outlook for teacher train- 
ing classes in rural districts as well as cities 
and towns, is founded upon enlistment of 
public school teachers for this special work. 
One thing certainly can contribute to that 
end, and that is for those in authority and 
influence to see to it that public school 
teachers are active Christians, if possible. 
Moreover, if they are not already Chris- 
tians, the churches and Sunday schools 
should make special efforts to secure their 
conversions in the various communities. 
There is altogether too little work along 
this line. Sunday school superintendents 
must be alert to find suitable teachers any- 
where, and if a person is known to have 
ability to teach, or ability to draw, and yet 
such an one is not a Christian, the thing to 
do is to get together and unitedly ask God 
to convert such an one for teaching service, 
and the request will surely be granted. In 
fact, when such a public school teacher 
learns of this effort in his behalf, it will in- 
terest and surprise him, and, no doubt, lead 
to his conversion and consecration. 

Yes, Sunday school work is receiving such 
high class support in these days from the 



506 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

great educators that there is a growing de- 
mand that we raise the educational stand- 
ard of our school so that our work can stand 
along with that of colleges in point of edu- 
cational value, and we call upon public 
school teachers and the authorities to come 
to our support. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the policy of our Government on the use of 
the Bible in public schools? 

2. Why this policy, and who is responsible for it? 

3. What are the advantages and disadvantages, and 
which outweighs the other? 

4. What is being done to somewhat overcome this 
situation ? 

5. Is religious training as essential as intellectual 

training for highest culture? 



III. 

SUNDAY SCHOOL ORGANIZATION. 

Department of Administration. 

The Small School. The plan of organ- 
ization is conditioned upon the size of the 
school, the place of meeting, and the 

availability of fairly competent officers and 
teachers. There are localities where only 
one person can be found able to take charge 
of the school or to teach. If there are no 
teachers and only one competent person in 
the school we would have a very simple form 
of organization. A superintendent and secre- 
tary and treasurer and a class for the adults 
and young people, and a class for the chil- 
dren under twelve. In proportion as the 
attendance increases, doubtless more per- 
sons would be available to teach. Of course, 
the children ought always to be taught in 
a separate room if one can be had, for they 
are not so quiet as older pupils, and it is 

(507) 



508 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

not desired that they should be as quiet. 
We teach young children by marching and 
singing, and it matters not how small the 
school is nor where it is held, the teacher 
of children should teach them suitable chil- 
dren's songs, and let them march as they 
sing. This cannot be done unless the children 
are off in a place to themselves. If there is 
only one room, that might be curtained off, 
especially when the weather is inclement. If 
the weather is pleasant it would be a capital 
idea to take the children out of doors either 
in the city or in the country. In the country 
the children might well assemble out doors 
in pleasant weather even if the housing 
conditions afforded them a separate room 
indoors. In case there are two rooms avail- 
able, the children should have one of them. 
Some small city schools have no yards suit- 
able, but there is usually a private home 
that could be used to help the situation. 
Almost any country school is, after all, ca- 
pable of arranging for the children sepa- 
rately out of doors, and has this advantage 
over many small city schools. The superin- 
tendent of the small school must not think 
that improvement is not possible because of 
the disadvantages, for wherever there is a 
teacher and a pupil we can have a school. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 509 

But we are speaking here now of the plan 
of organizing such a small school, and it is 
evident the plan must be simple, but not so 
simple as to try to do the impossible, and 
the impossible is to try to teach children 
under twelve in the same room with the 
rest of the school. Separate them even if 
curtains must be employed, or even if the 
children must meet out of doors. Let the 
superintendent teach all in this small school 
in one class except the children, if no more 
teachers can be secured. But this same 
superintendent should form a teacher train- 
ing class of some of the advanced scholars, 
and go over the lesson for the next Sunday 
as well as study the Teacher Training book, 
so that there will soon be available more 
teachers. Such a school should at least 
have a blackboard and Bible maps. 

A Large School is one of a hundred mem- 
bers or more, and a more elaborate plan of 
organization is needed, and yet much still 
depends upon housing conditions. If there 
are two rooms, let the children have one. 
The other room ought to be divided by a 
curtain so that the young people may be 
separated from the adults, unless it is a very 
large auditorium, in which case the adults 
could be taught in the rear, and the young 



510 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

people in the front; or if there is a gallery, 
the older people could retire to the gallery, 
Whenever it can possibly be so arranged, 
let adults and young people and children 
meet in a separate room and better results 
will follow. 

A Superintendent is always necessary, 
but an assistant superintendent is not al- 
ways necessary, and ought not to be elected 
unless there is some special work for him 
to do at each session of the school. In the 
case of this larger school with three divis- 
ions accommodating children, youths and 
adults, there should be elected three assist- 
ant superintendents, each one to be in 
charge of one of these separate divisions, 
working under general directions of the 
superintendent, each one charged with the 
responsibility for the success of a division 
both as to membership and instruction. 

Assistant Superintendents are assigned 
a special work as the head of a Division, and 
are not merely to act in the absence of the 
general superintendent. These should of- 
ten be called to meet the general superinten- 
dent to plan and to study. 

A Recording Secretary is necessary in a 
school of any size, anywhere, to keep a rec- 
ord in a book provided for that purpose. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 511 

In the case of the larger school with the 
three divisions, there ought to be three as- 
sistant recording secretaries to serve the di- 
visions, and report to the general record- 
ing secretary. In the smaller school the 
recording secretary should keep the roll of 
the school, and should do the sanie in the 
larger school by divisions, unless other ar- 
rangements are made. 

An Enrolling Secretary, however, is now 
added to the list of officers of the larger 
school, and such officer has no divisional as- 
sistants. This officer enrolls the new schol- 
ars as they enter school, and assigns them 
to classes. Of course the superintendent will 
always be consulted, but scholars should be 
assigned to a suitable class, and not encour- 
aged to enter any class they like. More- 
over, it is the duty of the enrolling secre- 
tary to keep the record of each pupil in a 
book, or by a set of cards arranged in a box 
alphabetically, showing the name, address, 
parents, class, teacher and age. 

A Treasurer is a necessary officer and he 
should pay out money only on order signed 
by superintendent and recording secretary. 
It is his business not only to account for 
funds, but he should also plan the raising 
of the funds. 



512 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

A Chorister and Organist. These two 
offices may be combined in one, or may be 
filled by separate persons. In fact, there 
are schools that have no musical instrument, 
and in that case the chorister is still needed 
to direct the singing, and he should plan to 
have a musical instrument either to play 
liimself or to have some one operate. It is 
yery necessary that music should receive 
much attention in a school of any size. In the 
rural districts, singing classes are often or- 
ganized in an independent way to be in- 
structed by a paid musician. It would be 
a splendid plan to exalt the musical side of 
the school to the dignity of a Department 
of Music, and let the church and school 
unite to employ a suitable Christian musi- 
cian to take charge. If an instrumentalist 
can be secured, then let the church and 
school help to maintain him by furnishing 
pupils to take instrumental music. His en- 
tire expense could be met by public recitals 
once a year anywhere. Music is a means 
of greatly helping the pupils, and there are 
altogether too few persons in our Baptist 
schools able to play a piano or organ. Even 
where an instrumentalist cannot be secured 
then employ a vocalist, and make vocal mu- 
sic prominent leading to instrumental 
music. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 513 

A Librarian should be elected along with 
the other officers of any school, and i*f there 
is no library, let him take charge of Bibles 
and song books, and Sunday school litera- 
ture and collect same. If there is a library, 
let him learn how to care for it, and wisely 
plan to make it of the larger use to the 
school. 

The Pastor is the spiritual head of the 
Sunday school and the representative of the 
church. The superintendent should take 
pains to keep in the closest possible touch 
with him at all times, and always secure his 
consent and cooperation in the work. 

Department Of Instruction. 

In the Case of the Small School we often 
blend the department of administration 
with that of instruction, the same persons 
serving on both, on account of scarcity of 
suitable persons for officers and teachers. 
But as soon as possible, or as the school in- 
creases in workers and pupils, we should 
separate these two departments and have a 
different set of persons for officers and 
teachers. That will offer a larger number 
of persons some definite responsibility and 



514 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

position, and in the case of young people, 
will tend to hold them to the school, where 
now there is a tendency on the part of the 
teen age pupils to pass out of the school. 

A Director of Religious Instruction is 
needed in each school to look after the teach- 
ing work, and to see that the teaching is 
made practical and helpful. Of course, the 
superintendent continues this work in his 
position in small schools, and in most large 
schools ; but in the case of the schools in 
towns and cities, the time is now ripe to di- 
vide responsibility as far as persons can be 
found suitable to the requirements of the 
position. The proper person for this posi- 
tion is the pastor, but he and the superin- 
tendent may find some one else. This per- 
son ought to be the responsible head of the 
teaching force of the school, and he should 
take charge at regular teachers' meetings 
and of Teacher Training Classes. If possi- 
ble, he should be a professional teacher, 
if not the pastor. If it be possible 
to secure a principal of a public school, 
may be he could also secure the teachers of 
that school. It may be that by definitely 
connecting up the public school with the 
Sunday school it might cause the public 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 515 

school to make more of a contribution to- 
ward the higher spiritual development of its 
pupils. Of course, these teachers would all 
have to be members of Baptist churches be- 
fore we could use them. 

The Assistant Superintendents are ex- 
ofRcio superintendents of the divisions, and 
in this latter position they come under di- 
rection of the general director of instruc- 
tion. While they stand related to the gen- 
eral superintendent as assistants to pro- 
mote efficient administration and to increase 
the attendance, they here stand related to 
the religious instruction director who holds 
them to account for efficiency in the teach- 
ing of the division. Such little progress is 
made in this respect in most schools that 
somebody ought to be charged with the 
special work of improving the instruction 
in the school. Usually the superintendent 
sticks to the administrative side of his work, 
which requires his time. He should be giv- 
en help by electing a director for instruc- 
tion whose special function shall be to grad- 
ually improve the teaching efficiency in the 
school. If this is done, and the person 
elected really becomes active, we shall soon 
see results. Those superintendents who 
really^ desire better teaching v/ill find hefe 



516 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

a practical suggestion. The division su- 
perintendent becomes in fact a principal in 
his relation to the director of instruction, 
but his office is still assistant superinten- 
dent. It is his business to help find suita- 
ble teachers for this division, and he is to 
stand related to the teacher under him as 
the director of instruction stands related 
to him. He should feel the full responsibili- 
ty for the division instruction as well as 
for administration. 

The Division. Each school should aim 
to accommodate separately the children 4 
up to 11, the youth 12 up to 20, and the 
adults 21 up. These three groups of pupils 
are radically different one from the other 
and to such extent that they do not care to 
associate together; and if they are togeth- 
er in the same room the best results will 
not be secured either in attendance or in 
instruction. If the place of meeting is not 
convenient for separating these groups, 
that does not destroy the necessity for sep- 
arating them, and some way ought to be 
found to overcome the disadvantage. Where 
there is a will there is a way, and the prin- 
cipal trouble after all will be to get the 
school to see that the separation is essen- 
tial. Children cannot stand the restraint 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 517 

of the older pupils, and older pupils, i. e., 
young people, do not like to be associated 
with the adults. It is on account of being 
promiscuously mixed with children that we 
do not have a large attendance of adult per- 
sons. If there are two rooms, give the 
children one, and let the other be for youths 
and adults, but it would not be a bad plan 
to let the children meet in the morning, the 
young people after morning services, and 
adults in the afternoon, since each division 
has its own superintendent. Or the chil- 
dren might meet outdoors in the country. 
In most city churches two divisions could 
be easily accommodated, and three with but 
little change in plans of building. 

Classes. After placing responsibility 
for the proper conduct of the division in 
the hands of the assistant superintendents, 
who become division superintendents, 
the division needs no further dividing up 
except into classes. We are accustomed to 
think of the division in connection with 
administration, and the department in con- 
nection with instruction. But now these 
are interchangeable in function, so that 
next to division comes the class. We 
no longer place a person in charge of a de- 
partment, except in the case of a large, a 



518 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

very large school, but all the classes stand 
directly related to the division. 

The Classes By Grades. 

If the school is so graded that each pupil 
uses a lesson intended for his particular 
age only, then there would be so many 
classes that the department would be 
needed. But few schools are so graded as 
to provide a separate class and teacher for 
each year of the pupil's life. The idea is 
impractical, except in rare exceptions. We 
do not have to grade a Sunday school as we 
do a day school, for the grade in the day 
school is based on knowledge, while in the 
Sunday school it is based on experience., It 
is entirely sufficient for Sunday school pur- 
poses to grade by certain groups of years, 
instead of grading by single years. If we 
grade by single years, then the department 
should have a responsible head, because 
there should be so many classes in a depart- 
ment. Take the Junior Department, 9, 10 
and 11 years. There should be six classes 
in this department, even if there were only 
two dozen pupils, in fact, a dozen pupils, 
if the three ages were represented ; for the 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 519 

boys must be taught separately from the 
girls. To be strictly graded, we should have 
a teacher for a class that had only one boy, 
or else the grading falls down. Under no 
circumstances may a child using the graded 
help for a ten year old child be put in a class 
with another one eleven years of age, who 
uses an eleven year old periodical To mix 
the ages like that really destroys the grad- 
ing-by-years plan; and yet that is precisely 
what is taking place in many schools that 
pride themselves as being strictly up to date 
in the work. The very fact that this is the 
situation shows the impracticability of the 
strictly graded theory. 

For all practical purposes it is now dawn- 
ing upon Sunday school experts, that after 
all, it will be entirely sufficient to grade by 

departments instead of by classes. About 
the only use now left for the idea of the de- 
partment is that it furnishes a suitable and 
scientific grouping of the single years to 
serve as the basis to a practical system of 
grading in our Sunday schools. The depart- 
ment carries the idea of a group of years 
most closely related to each other as follows : 



520 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

The International Sunday School Association Plan. 

From 1 to 3: Cr.ldle Roll 

From 4 to 5; Beginners 

From 6 to 8: Primary 

From 9 to 12: Junior ^Department. 

From 13 to 16: Intermediate 

From 17 to 20: Senior 

From 21 up: Adult 

The New Suggestion. 



} 



From 1 to 3: Cradle Roll 

From 4 to 5: Beginners 

From 6 to 8: Primary 

From 9 to 11: Junior 

From 12 to 14: Intermediate /Proposed New Department 

From 15 to 17: Senior \ 

From 18 to 20: Young People J 

From 21 up: Adult 



The new plan differs from the old, as can 
be seen from comparing both, beginning 
with the Junior, leaving off the twelfth 
year and adding it to the Intermediate ; and 
then allow three years to the Intermediate 
and Seniors, and creating a new depart- 
ment of Young People for eighteen to twen- 
ty year old pupils. The Sunday School 
Publishing Board of the National Baptist 
Convention is now using the new system 
of departments, with periodicals corre- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 521 

spending in name with the exception that, 
instead of an Intermediate Quarterly for 
the Intermediate Department, we are call- 
ing the quarterly for use of the Intermediate 
Department the Advanced Quarterly, sim- 
ply because we dislike to part with that 
name. But the new system of departments 
is really more scientific and more in accord- 
ance with the study of the pupil. The ado- 
lescent .period really begins oftener at 
twelve years of age than at thirteen, and if 
that is true, then our present system causes 
us to mix the early adolescents with chil- 
dren and yet we do not understand why so 
many begin to drop out around that age. 

So then, next to the division comes the 
classes and departments which should be 
grouped as follows : 

1. Cradle Roll — 1 to 3 years. 

2. Be^nner — 4 to 5 years, 

3. Primary — 6 to 8 years. 

4. Junior — 9 to 11 years. 

5. Advanced or Intermediate— 12 to 14 years. 

6. Senior — 15 to 17 years. 

7. Young" People — 18 to 20 years. 

8. Adult — 21 yeaa-s, up. 

The idea is that it is entirely proper to 
grade your school by groups of years in- 
stead of by single years. That means that we 
can still have the credit of a graded school 



522 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

if we will observe the above classification, 
1. e., never place pupils in the same class 
that are not included in these groups or de- 
partments ; but it is all right to let any Pri- 
mary child use the same Primary Quarter- 
ly whether he be six or seven, or eight; be- 
cause while there is some slight difference 
in the knowledge, it is not so decidedly dif- 
ferent as to offer any barrier to the system 
of Sunday school grading that is based up- 
on experience and not knowledge. 

This idea of Departmental Grading has 
already been adopted in the lesson scheme 
of the Lesson Committee of the Internation- 
al Sunday School Association, and is fol- 
lowed in principle in the Improved Uni- 
form Lesson Series that have already been 
in use a year or so. This is the system of 
Departmental Grading adopted by our Sun- 
day School Publishing Board. The idea is 
to take as the Scripture text for the whole 
school a lesson that will furnish some ma- 
terial suitable to the various departmental 
grades, and to treat only so much of that 
lesson for each departmental grade as that 
grade will be able to appropriate. Usually 
there is one general topic covering the en- 
tire passage ; then some verses suitable are 
treated under a suitable topic for Beginners 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 523 

and Primary, then others for Intermediates, 

and others for Seniors and Young People. 

The plan now used requires that in case no 
material can be found in the general Scrip- 
ture passage for the lesson that is suitable 
for Beginners and Primary treatment, then 
some other Scripture passage is selected for 
these departments. This is a most help- 
ful plan, and gives to the average school 
some of the outstanding practical results 
that have followed the agitation of Graded 
Literature. The founders of this Graded 
Literature have rendered a great service 
to the cause of religious instruction by 
pointing out just what is capable of being 
absorbed and assimilated by the various 
ages of pupils. While some of the findings 
are too technical for practical use, and we 
find ourselves unable to accept the idea that 
no two years can be mixed in a single class, 
nevertheless, the system has borne excel- 
lent fruit in greatly improving the system 
of the past, so that our Lesson Committee 
has been induced to be more careful in the 
selection of Scripture passages offered for 
study, and to do more hard work before of- 
fering the lessons by suggesting suitable 
topics in the passage for the departmental 
grades. Of course, the plan of the Interna- 



524 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

tional Lesson Committee is still far from 
perfect because the Scripture text selected 
does not always afford us topics for young 
children that are best suited to their age. 
In some cases, the children's topic is quite 
suitable, but in others the topic is not suit- 
able. Even when the children's topic is 
suitable to be treated for children, it is not 
always the topic needed most by these pu- 
pils. The Presbyterians have devised a sys- 
tem of Departmental Graded Lessons based 
not upon the Improved Uniform Lessons, 
but based upon the Graded Lessons. Where 
the Graded scheme provides a three 
year course for the Primary, with a differ- 
ent treatment for each year, these Presby- 
terians select the seventh or middle year of 
this course and publish one quarterly that 
uses the Graded Literature of the middle 
year as the basis of the study for all three 
years of the Department. This course is 
graded, and represents such a practical idea 
that it ought to finally meet the approval 
of the Sunday school world. But we are 
thankful for the present standard of De- 
partmental Grading of the Improved Uni- 
form Series. 

In case there are sufficient pupils of a de- 
partmental grouping to allow a separate 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 525 

class for each year of that group, the thing 
to do then is to place each age in a separ- 
ate class, but each class would use the same 
quarterly as though all of them were taught 
in the same class. But if the teacher is 
well prepared he can use the same quarter- 
ly and yet make a class composed only of 
scholars of the same age understand the 
lesson better. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Name the departments of Sunday school organiza- 
tion. 

2. Name the usual head of each. 

3. Who should be in charge of the department of in- 
struction? * 

4. How many divisions, and why? 

5. What about departments? 

6. What recommendations are made about an enroll- 
ing secretary, and what duties are required? 

7. State the argument for a library and reading room. 

8. What is recommended along the line of music? 

9. What two ways of grading are in use in this country 
for Sunday schools? 

10. Describe the group grading. 



IV. : 

SUNDAY SCHOOL EQUIPMENT. 

The Small School in the Country needs 
certain equipment to do successful work, 
just as the farmer must have proper tools 
to do his work. It matters not how much 
trouble and how much expense may be in- 
volved, he just must have certain tools, or 
his efforts will be entirely wasted. The 
same is true of the city school as well as 
the country school. 

A Blackboard is necessary to properly 
impress the instructions, and this is needed 
the more even where room is inadequate 
and teachers are scarce, for the blackboard 
will enable more pupils to understand when 
taught altogether than if there is no ob- 
ject upon which to fasten the eye, which 
is a means of securing attention and mak- 
ing the instructions clearer. This black- 
board should be made of ' some material 
that is smooth and even, and it can be 

(527) 



528 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

made black by painting with liquid slating 
obtained at a hardware store. A good 
plan is to make it of thick paper boards 
made for ceiling houses. This can be made 
into a frame, and then painted with slating. 
If this paper board cannot be secured, the 
next best board would be to paint the plas- 
tering made of wood fibre in small houses, 
or slated canvass can be ordered of the 
Sunday School Publishing Board and can 
be hung up on the wall. But whenever the 
school is able to purchase a revolving 
blackboard of slate, it will be a good plan 
to do so, for the blackboard will be needed 
as long as there is a school, and this board 
does not mar the wall, and stands nearer 
to the pupils. 

Bible Maps. The next need is for a set 
of Bible maps. It will require five differ- 
ent maps to illustrate the Bible, and these 
can be purchased mounted on a tripod for 
a reasonable sum. Whenever a place is 
mentioned or a journey, we should trace it 
on the map and it helps wonderfully to 
hold it in memory. 

Beginners' and Primary Outfit. In case 
of a city school, or every school with a sep- 
arate room for teaching children, a spe- 
cial outfit is prepared to help the teacher. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 529 

If the teacher is not willing to go to the 
trouble to learn how to do first class work, 
it will be useless to fit up this room as long 
as the same teacher remains in charge. 
But in any event, the regular Bible Lesson 
Pictures that usually stand on a special 
frame in the main schoolroom, should be 
placed in the children's room, and should 
be used by the instructor in teaching the 
children. The picture is not always suit- 
able but it is better than nothing. The 
picture should always represent the chil- 
dren's topic in the lesson, and if that is al- 
ways observed, and the picture is properly 
used, it is a great improvement over the 
Picture Cards, and will really make the 
cards serve a better purpose : for what the 
child cannot make out or understand in 
the card picture will be more interesting 
to him when he sees the large picture. 
These large pictures should be hung up 
around the children's room after being used 
for a lesson, and frames of pasteboard or 
wood might be made by the teacher. 

Little Chairs are a very necessary 
equipment for the children under nine, and 
as soon as a separate room is secured for 
them, these little chairs should be installed, 
so as not only to make the child more at 



530 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

ease, but because they can be arranged in 
a circle which is necessary for reaching and 
holding their attention. 

An organ or piano is also needed if any- 
one can be found to play. No mention 
of an instrument has thus far been made 
for the whole school, but until someone is 
found w^ho can play it, we need not buy 
one. But as soon as possible some one 
should be found who can play the chil- 
dren's instrument and lead the children in 
singing the songs which constitute such an 
important element in training Beginners 
and Primaries. As the department makes 
progress, new equipment so essential to 
the progress will be needed. But the prin- 
cipal equipment is here indicated, and the 
next need is a suitable teacher with help- 
ers. Purchase of our Board ^^Songs for 
Little Singers.'' 

Organ for the School is generally needed 
even when there is a church organ, and an- 
other is needed for special use of the Be- 
ginners. 

A Library. The idea of the Sunday 
school library does not receive the atten- 
tion it once held, and yet the library is 
greatly needed today. It is probable that 
the general establishment of public libra- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 531 

ries in all parts of the country is responsi- 
ble for the general decline of the Sunday 
school library, but that is hardly true in the 
case of the Colored people ; for large num- 
bers of the Colored people live in sections 
where we are not allowed to use the public 
library and where seldom any Colored li- 
brary is maintained as a separate institu- 
tion. It is hardly probable that in the case 
of Negroes the public library is responsible 
for the decline in the Sunday school library. 
The truth is that the class of books that 
used to constitute the Sunday school library 
is not found in public libraries today. The 
decline in the idea among us is rather an 
indication of a lack of interest in the class 
of books usually found in such a library. 
And yet, after all, the decline in the Sun- 
day school library is more the sign of in- 
efficiency in our Sunday school work than 
anything else, for no argument has been 
made against the library, no reason stood 
against it, no propaganda or prejudice. 
The matter has either been simply neg- 
lected, or else never did receive its proper 
attention. 

Then again some schools have such small 
vision, are so stingy, that they do not want 
to buy any more printed matter after buy- 



532 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

ing literature and song books and a few 
Bibles. The power of the printed page is 
as great now as ever, and we are losing a 
grand opportunity to religiously and mor- 
ally train the children, by neglecting to 
provide a suitable library for the pupils of 
the school. Instead of the public library 
taking the place of the Sunday school li- 
brary, it is nearer the truth to state that 
the moving picture show is the attraction. 
When a real Christian passes one of these 
moving picture shows and notices the class 
of pictures displayed outside, he can make 
sure worse ones still are seen on the inside. 
These pictures deal with vice and sin almost 
invariably and yet this is the stuff fed up 
to the children and youth of this genera- 
tion ; and the Lord only knows what the ef- 
fect is going to be upon this country, upon 
our churches, and upon the race. We are 
aware of the situation in some quarters, 
and yet it seems that America is so free that 
nothing can be done to check this national 
source of crime and outlawry. It is a ques- 
tion whether a moving picture show in a 
town is not doing more harm than the 
churches are doing good to offset it. Some 
advocate the use of the moving picture as 
a means of holding our young people, by 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 588 

providing pictures once or twice a week. 
But the trouble is where shall we get pic- 
tures, for all the pictures fall short of the 
mark, even the best of them, and we can 
not offset the movies with the mo'^/ie. So 
far as holding the children and youth in our 
Sunday schools to the impression made up- 
on them by teaching the lesson, there is a 
way it can be done,, and that is by means of 
a Sunday school library handled properly. 
There are books written especially for use 
in these libraries, and these books are 
graded to meet the growing conditions of 
the child life. 

Such books are really a commentary upon 
the Bible, and interpret the spiritual teach- 
ings of the word in terms of every day life. 
There is an age of a pupil's life when such 
books make a profound, yes, inerasable im- 
pression upon the mind, and that age is the 
Junior Period; and this child actually 
yearns for this class of literature, and 
would devour great quantities of it, and the 
good effects would last a lifetime. This 
talk about the public library supplying the 
place of the Sunday school library is all 
"buncombe," for the one deals in entirely 
different literature from the other. More- 



534 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

over, we are not impressing our strong 
young men and women as we should to take 
their places in the work of the church and 
the Sunday school. What are we offering 
these young people to build them up in the 
most holy faith and the service of the Lord? 
We offer them some Bible, but they are 
most impressed with books that they like 
to read and which make a great impres- 
sion upon them. The Bible is a book that 
is so hard to understand that it is easy to 
lose interest in the study. The fact is, that 
it requires a certain class of other books to 
arouse one to become interested in the 
Bible, and other books to show us how to 
study it. The Bible by itself is not suffi- 
cient for us to offer young men and women. 
At any rate, there should be a department 
of the Sunday school library especially for 
teachers and advanced pupils, and it ought 
to carry such books as a Bible Dictionary 
in four volumes, a Commentary on the or- 
der of the Pulpit Commentary, which will 
furnish the exhaustive class of information 
demanded by growing minds, Bible His- 
tory, Concordance, Harmonies of the Gospel 
and of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles, and 
books necessary to train Sunday school 
teachers and workers in all the departments 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 538 

of the church. After putting in such a library 
as here indicated for the advanced pupils, 
the teachers should encourage the proper 
and frequent use of the same by assigning 
subjects to be looked up and essays to be 
read. In the case of the young people and 
children a reward should be offered for 
the pupil who reads the most of these books 
in a year and passes a satisfactory quiz on 
same, which means that teachers inust also 
always read the books they suggest the pu- 
pils read. 

This library is for circulation, and no 
charge should be made except for damage 
to books or failure to return them on time. 
These libraries ought to be a part of the 
equipment of every Sunday school and more 
especially in the country. 

Coming now to some way of raising the 
money, we can succeed often by public en- 
tertainments given by the school. Then we 
can raise money in rallies conducted in the 
usual way. Correspond with our Sunday 
School Publishing Board about the matter, 
and doubtless suitable books can be ob- 
tained at reasonable prices. 

Sunday School Reading Room. In order 
to make the Sunday school the power it 



W€ HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

should be in shaping the lives of the pu- 
pils, we must bring the scholars under the 
influence of the school for a longer time 

than the usual session. Some are advocat- 
ing a midvreek session to be held in the 
evening. But whether that approve itself 
or not, the Library \\all increase the influ- 
ence, and the Reading Room will still fur- 
ther bring the young people under the 
school's influence. This should be kept open 
at stated hours each day or night, and high 
class papers or magazines should be on 
hand, not old but new ones. A room ought 
to be pro\nded for this that is lighted and 
heated at the expense of the school in cities 
and towns at least. The matter of having 
suitable persons to take charge of the Read- 
ing Room could be left to the organized 
classes, and from these a person could be se- 
lected to take charge each week. Organ- 
ized classes should be hunting for just such 
an opportunity as this to give expression 
work to their pupils. If this Reading Room 
is supported, it would serve to offset the 
movie and the dance hall and other attrac- 
tions. Some teacher should make it a point 
to be present each evening so as to guide the 
pupils in this reading. 



BOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BimM. 657 
QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the necessary equipment for a small coun- 
try school? 

2. How may a blackboard be made and what service 
is it? 

8. How should maps be used? 

4. What equipment should a large schooll have for ^e 
Beginners and Primaries? 

5. What general equipment for the schooH 



V. 

HOUSING A CITY SCHOOL. 

It is probably true that the average city 
church building is provided with a base- 
ment and a large room upstairs, and one 
or two small rooms. If the church will 
agree to it, (and they will) then the second- 
ary division will simply occupy the main 
room upstairs, and provisions can be made 
for the adults by placing them in one end 
of the basement room curtained off, or bet- 
ter still, a class window partition can be 
made half way the basement, or folding 
doors, or rolling doors. No design is needed 
to explain this idea. 



(539) 



540 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 



/ri\. 




llementar^ 




n 






o 

3 

&> 

-1 


Adults 







Baseirtent 
No. 5 



Main floor 



But a city church will often be found 
with no basement suitable for meetings, but 
an annex serves for the purpose. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 541 



floor phn no. 7 





'( 

1 

1 


o 


1 
1 

1 


m 

3 

3 




4 

\ 

1 




1 
1 





Adults 



H^or plan no. 8^ 



Adults 



Main Auditorium 



^ Secondary 



"1 

I 

I 
1 
I 
» 

-A 



\ 



Elementary 



542 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 



The annex is generally intended to sup- 
ply all the needs of the school as in No. 8, 
but the place is not sufficient for more than 
one division, and that the secondary. There 
are in many places regular Sunday school 
houses built along beside the church build- 
ing and some of our more ambitious 
churches will adopt that plan. Below is 
found a model building, or floor plan for 
this building. 

One stort^ floor bid n 



3^ 

C 

o 

iX) 



5 



o 


Choir 
Supt, 


•3> 
2 








Adults 


Seconddrj^ 


Juniors 


Elementary 



No9 



Any basement can be remodeled dccordinj to above fiiao 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 543 

The suggestion found in No. 9 illustration 
is for a building of one story only, and 
shows how an old one story church building 
can be remodeled within for a school house. 
The idea is to use roller partitions that can 
be slided up to the ceiling in separating the 
various rooms, thus making the entire floor 
one large assembly room for opening the 
school. Glass windows can be used for this 
purpose, but are not as suitable as roller 
partitions. 

In some sections a few of our churches 
are supporting what they call an Old Folk's 
Home. They are beginning to recognize 
that the church building of the past is not 
meeting the present needs of the growing 
church. We shall see more of these build- 
ings go up, and now is the time for Sunday 
schools to put in their application to the 
church for proper housing in connection 
with an extra building. A community house 
is a growing need, and it is in connection 
with such a house the Sunday school should 
be provided for. The No. 9 illustration could 
be made a two-story building, and one story 
could be used for the Community House ac- 
tivities in the week and the same floor would 



544 HOW <rO STUDY ANP TEACH THE BIBLE. 

serve as the assembly room of the school on 
Sunday; and thus the partitions for the de- 
partments of the school as in No. 9 could 
be made permanent. We are only giving 
here plans that are plain and inexpensive, 
but should any school use something more 
expensive our Sunday School Publishing 
Board will be able to connect you up with 
a competent architect who is related to our 
work. If the school will use to the fullest 
extent the equipment already in hand, the 
churches through their pastors will not be 
slow to come to their relief by providing 
suitable housing conditions. Very often it 
happens that a progressive pastor has an- 
ticipated the needs of the school for years 
ahead and has built an ideal school plant, 
but no superintendent of vision and ability 
has been found to use the plant already 
provided, and this is an encouraging sign 
to really progressive superintendents that 
they will eventually be able to get adequate 
equipment if they get the pupils in the 
school and competent teachers. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Make drawing's showing* how a one room building 
could be altered for Sunday school purposes? 

2. Make drawing for an L addition. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 546 

8. Make drawings for a T addition. 

4. Make drawings for a permanent one story Sunday 
school house. 

5. What divisions should be made in each Sunday school 
building ? 

6. Make drawings showing how your own church 
building can be made fully adopted to up-to-date 
Sunday school work, if it is not already so planned. 



VI. 

HOUSING A COUNTRY SCHOOL. 

Most of the country churches among us 
have only one room, with perhaps one or 
two very small rooms at the rear of the 
pulpit. Such a building was constructed 
without any special thought of the school. 

/ 




Not 



floor plan o\ i\\t average country church 



(547) 



548 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. , 

Usually such a building has two aisles 
and three rows of seats. If no better ar- 
rangement can be made, even this building 
can be made into three separate apartments 
by stretching two curtains across this large 
room making three divisions — elementary, 
secondary, and adult. If not able to pro- 
vide two curtains, stretch one curtain across 
about one-third the length of the room, thus 
giving a separate apartment for the young 
children, and a large space for all the rest 
of the school. 



fi^ 



elementary 



Secondary 



Adults 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 549 

These two curtains would not be expen- 
sive and might each divide in the middle, 
so that when not in use they could be folded 
back compactly on both side walls. Roller 
partitions that slide up to the ceiling can be 
used instead of the curtains. 

But a country school should plan a better 
house, and if the school is alive and the of- 
ficers and teachers are wise they will be 
able to interest the pastor to provide better 
accommodation, and he in turn will stir up 
the church, and additions can be made by 
making the building a "T" or an "L" like the 
plan below in No. 3. 




Secondary 



I 



Elementary 



9^3 



550 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

If one wing only is added it will be an L. 
If two wings are added it will be a T (as 
shown in the figure on the preceding page. 

This is a practical building for the church 
services any way, provided the wings are 
connected with the main body by folding 
doors which will not add much to the cost, 
for when the weather is bad or the con- 
gregation small, the main room could be 
shut off from the wings. Roller partitions 
could be used here. 

If a better building is planned, some in- 
form.ation and suggestions will be found 
under the city building plans. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. How can a one room country church building' be 
adapted to Sunday school purposes without much 
expense ? 

2. Illustrate by drawing. 

3. What suggestion is made for the children's de- 
partment in good weather? 

4. Why should the three major divisions of pupdls be 
kept separate ? 

5. What suggestion is made finally dn the lesson? 



VII. 

THE GRADED IDEA AND GRADED 
LESSONS NET RESULTS THUS FAR. 

Those consecrated and efficient educators 
who introduced and championed the sys- 
tem of graded lessons for Sunday schools 
have placed us under a lasting debt of grati- 
tude, notwithstanding the fact that we are 
of the opinion that this system will never 
grow in use much more than at present ac- 
cording to the strict plans of its promoters ; 
but a system of departmental grading is 
far more practical than grading by single 
years, and will doubtless grow into more 
universal favor. 

But the graded idea will have triumphed 
and greatly promoted efficient teaching 
even if it is not adopted entirely as its pro- 
moters planned. 

Two outstanding net results have been 
achieved, the study of the pupil, and the se- 
lection of material from the Bible suitable 

(551) 



552 HOW TO STUDY ND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

to the different grades. It is not putting it 
too strongly to say that the very general 
interest now manifested in child study is 
due to agitation that has grown out of the 
graded lessons' agitation and child study 
is revolutionizing our teaching methods. 

The other asset that comes to us as the 
result of their long and patient and scien- 
tific work is the grading of the subject mat- 
ter of the Bible in such a way as to give us 
and show us the best material to undertake 
to teach the children of the different ages. 
This course runs three years longer than 
the twenty-first year, and begins with the 
fourth year, and the rough outline is as fol- 
lows: 

For Beginners 4 to 5 — The Little Child and the Heaven- 
ly Father. 
' For Primaries 6 to 8 — Stories about God's Gift, Help- 
7 ers and Will. 

For Juniors 9 to 12 — Hero Stories, Old and New Testa- 
ment. 

For Intermediates 13 to 16 — Old and New Testament 

Leaders, Christ and Christians. 

For Seniors 17 to 20— The World a Field for Christi»» 

Service. 

ELECTIVE COURSES FOR SENIORS. 

Old Testament Times. 
New Testament Times. 
Bible and Social Living. 
Christ and the Nations. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 553 

These suggestions of what kind of study 
of the Bible will best reach and help the 
different grades are standard and will guide 
us in the future selection of lessons. Of 
course since the International Lesson Com- 
mittee selects the new improved uniform 
lessons, it is to be expected that they 
will be guided largely by these sug- 
gestions. If they do not profit by 
them, then we ought to get out our 
own graded lessons for use of our own 
schools as the Presbyterians have done, and 
as the Northern Baptists did in providing 
the first graded lessons. These lesson peri- 
odicals are splendid, but are entirely imprac- 
tical of successful adoption and use. But 
we can still profit by this great and monu- 
mental achievement if we will use the as- 
sets that have come to us. Now these les- 
sons or kinds of lessons are recommended 
for each grade or department because of the 
aim in view in teaching pupils of the differ- 
ent ages. Below we give the aim for each 
grade: 

The Bible. 

AIM. 

Be^nners To ^ide the little child to know God, who 

4 to 5 loves, provides for, and protects him; to 

know Jesus as friend and helper. To lead 

him to show love for God by obedience and 

kindness. 



554 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 



Intermediates 

13 to 16 



Primaries To inspire the pupils to live with reverence 
6 to 8 toward God. 

To present Jesus in his love and work. 
To make a strong appeal to choose anc! 
obey God's will through Bible and mission- 
ary stories. 

Juniors To store eager memory with Bible facts and 

9 to 12 messages. 

To present ideals of moral heroism. 

To show consequences of right and wrong 

doing. 

To awaken an interest in the Bible; love 

for Christ and the church. 

To give personal ideas through study of 

biography. 

To lead pupils to accept Jesus as Savior 

and be baptized. 

To lead pupils to realize responsibility for 

personal Christian living. 

jSeniors To give the student Christian principles as 

17 to 20 guides to his work in the world. 

To lead to a thorough knowledge • of the 
Bible and a conception of Christianity as the 
supreme and onlly religion. 
To train in the 'principles of the denomina- 
tion and for service. 

Adults To comfort. 

21 up To inspire to social service and to Ia:rger 

usefulness in the church and community. 
To make intelligent growing Christians. 

It matters not whether teachers use 
graded lessons or not, they can keep the aim 
in mind and try to adapt any lesson to the 
proper aims they should keep in mind for 
the grade. With this knowledge becoming 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 555 

more general the schools will see that 
graded lessons are desirable, and grading 
by departments or groups of years is en- 
tirely practical for our own Board. 

There are several by-products of the 
graded system that we ought to make use of, 
and one is the idea of the graded teachers 
for the graded pupils, that is, holding teach- 
ers to the same grade and promoting the 
pupils to other teachers. This will make 
teachers become efficient if anything on 
earth will succeed. So while we may not 
be able, (and we absolutely cannot afford 
the experiment at present) to use strictly 
graded literature, let us remember to study 
the system, and give our pupils the bene- 
fits of our study, it matters not what kind 
of literature we use. After all, the graded 
teacher beats any graded literature, for the 
teacher can adapt the lesson to the needs of 
the child without any proper grading of les- 
son material. 

The fact is that too much has been made 
of graded literature, and too little has been 
done to prepare efficient teachers. Our 
first need is for teachers, for properly 
trained teachers can teach without efraded 
literature, or can adapt any kind of Sunday 
school literature to the best use. For in- 



556 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

stance, a gifted teacher of Juniors with a 
lesson entirely unsuited to that grade could 
nevertheless teach those Juniors the lesson 
If he found only one word in the lesson up- 
on which to build. It is all in the teacher 
after all. It must be borne in mind that 
there are no lessons sent out by the Inter- 
national Lesson Committee in these days 
but lessons that may well be used for 
graded teaching. At first, we had uniform 
lessons, that is, all the pupils in all the classes 
and in all the schools used the same les- 
sons, but in course of time it was clearly 
established that it was not at all the proper 
idea to teach all the pupils the same lessons 
at the same time; for it has been clearly 
proven that pupils cannot understand in 
the same way when of different ages, and 
that lessons ought to be suited to their ex- 
perience, which experience, it is claimed, 
corresponds generally with the age. So, 
for the past few years the International 
Lesson Committee has issued what we call 
the Improved Uniform Series, and these les- 
sons are uniform only for a single depart- 
ment, there being provided a different les- 
son for each department, unless the lesson 
be of such nature in some cases as to be 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 557 

used by more than one department. Thus 
whereas the old Uniform Lessons contem- 
plated all scholars of all departments of all 
schools using the same lesson; the new Im- 
proved Uniform Lessons are intended sim- 
ply that all departments of the same age 
group should use the same lesson. Thus in 
literature now sent out there is one general 
lesson passage from which the effort is 
made to select certain verses suitable for: 

PRIMARY AND BEGINNER PUPILS, 
JUNIOR PUPILS, 
INTERMEDIATE PUPILS, 
SENIOR AND ADULT PUPILS. 

That is to say, a different line of treat- 
ment, i. e., topic, is selected for each of the 
above groups, because the teaching science 
requires a different treatment on lessons 
for each of these four groupings. Now 
then, if from the general lesson text of the 
day there can be found a few verses that 
can serve as a basis for each of these group- 
ings, only one lesson text will be used by 
all these groups. But unless the general 
text includes a very long passage it will not 
be possible to find suitable teaching ma- 
terial for more than two of the groupings 
as a general thing. Therefore it becomes 
necessary very often to use an entirely dif- 



558 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

ferent lesson text for the elementary 
children, working up even this text in 
a different way for early, middle arid 
later childhood. Then the early ado- 
lescent needs special treatment and has 
a separate topic, while later adolescents 
and adults may study the same passage 
under different topics generally. This 
arrangement of the Uniform Lessons is in- 
tended to furnish graded lessons even if 
strictly graded literature is not used. It 
can be seen, therefore, if only teachers 
know how to teach the present class of Uni- 
form Lessons, as a general thing they will 
answer every practical purpose to enable 
the teacher to do efficient work. The main 
thing now needed is practical teacher train- 
ing material, which is the aim of "How to 
Study and Teach the Bible.'' It can be said, 
however, that it is possible for the Lessons 
Committee to be more careful in the selec- 
tion of Scripture texts for the department- 
al topics, and that they could be more close- 
ly related to the graded idea, if only more 
care is taken in the selection. Thus in the 
new Improved Uniform Literature it will 
be noticed that the general lesson text oft- 
en includes several passages of Scripture, 
so as to enable each teacher of a depart- 
mental group to find suitable teaching ma- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 559 

terial in one selection, if not in another. 
Thus, the entire Sunday school world is now 
committed to the idea of adopting as prac- 
tical a system of departmental grading. This 
is not as perfect as it will be, but the 
old Uniform Series has gone forever, and 
the Improved Uniform Series, uniform only 
as to departments, is here to stay: but it 
will have to be greatly improved itself; and 
it will now be a small matter to make de- 
partmental grading conform more closely 
to the graded idea, by selecting the exact- 
ly right passage for study by each depart- 
ment every time. 

The Presbyterians, as is pointed out in 
another place in this book, are setting forth 
a system of lessons based upon department- 
al grading, but more closely related to the 
graded idea. The strictly graded idea is 
that no two ages are to mix in any one 
class, and no two ages are to use the 
same quarterly: but each year of age must 
be accommodated in a class composed of 
pupils of that exact year of age, and thus 
that class will use all the same quarterly 
because all are of the same age. The graded 
idea still recognizes the department though 
it serves no use, since the class is the unit. 



560 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

Now, the Presbyterians have accepted the 
system of lessons provided for the graded 
course, but they employ only one lesson for 
all of the pupils of any one department. 

They generally select the middle year of the 
graded course, and treat that only in a 
quarterly for pupils, for example, 6, 7, 8 
years of age. In this case the lesson of the 
graded course for a seven years of age pu- 
pil in the primary department is made the 
lesson for the whole department, and 6, 7, 
and 8 year old pupils may all be placed in 
the same class. This is sensible and prac- 
tical, for the course is graded, and yet the 
literature will not be so expensive and so 
many teachers are not required. Already 
the Improved Uniform Lessons are upon 
the departmentally graded basis, but they 
should conform the material more to the 
standard graded idea. 

But it must be insisted that after all more 
depends upon the teacher than upon any 
literature, and our own literature is al- 
ready sufficient to serve every practical 
need if the teacher is properly trained. 

In order to use to the best advantage the 
departmentally graded literature, schools 
should be graded as follows: 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 561 

BEGINNERS— 4 to 5 years. 
PRIMARY— 6, 7, 8 years. 
JUNIOR— 9, 10, 11 years. 
INTERMEDIATE— 12, 13, 14 y^ars. 
SENIOR— 15, 16, 17 years. 
YOUNG PEOPLE— 18, 19, 20 years. 
ADULTS— 21 up. 

Superintendents must see to it that there 
is no other grouping of ages in the school 
except as here recommended, as this is the 
very latest recommendation of the Interna- 
tional Sunday School Council, as well as 
of our own Sunday School Publishing 
Board. 

The superintendent must see to it that no 
pupils shall enter the same classes unless 
they belong to the particular group as here 
recommended. If these particular ages 
are grouped, then the use of the literature 
will be more effective. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Copy out carefully the chart at the close of this 
book. 

2. Try to ^et your school to have it painted on cloth 
and stretched permanently on the wall of the Sunday 
school as a reminder to tlie officers and teachers. 

3. What good has resulted from the system of grading 
by years only? 

4. What are the disadvantages of the strictly graded 
literature ? 

Sig.— 19. 



562 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

5. What have we learned as to adapting the Bible to 
different groups of pupils ? 

6. What substitute is proposed for the so-called 
graded 4itera;ture? 

7. What is the basis of the grading in departmental 
literature ? 

8. What ages are grouped together? 



VIII. 

THE PLACE OF THE PASTOR IN THE 

SCHOOL. 

Unless the Sunday school is held in a 
public school, or some other place than the 
church building, the Sunday school should 
regard itself as a department of the church 
whether the church asserts its rights or 
not. The church has the full right to have 
its own desires and plans carried out in the 
school at all times and nothing can be al- 
lowed to stand against the disapproval of 
the church. The teaching part of the church 
work is fully as important as the preaching 
service, but only a few churches have awak- 
ened to this fact. They realize the school 
as doing a good work, but do not feel called 
upon to assume any responsibility for its 
support or conduct. This is largely ac- 
counted for by the fact of the gulf between 
the schooled young people and the lack of 
educational advantages on the part of the 

<563) 



564 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

older people in most cases. But whether 
the church demands it or not, a full report 
of the school should be made to the church 
anyway at least once each year, and the 
church should be consulted on all things per- 
taining to the school, and the school should 
refuse to take action except by agreement 
of the church. 

Now all that has been here said about the 
church applies to the pastor who is the shep- 
herd of the flock, the acknowledged respon- 
sible head of the entire organization of the 
church in all its activities. This pastor usu- 
ally represents the church, and in all cases 
he will represent what the school does not 
already represent of the sentiment and will 
of the church. This pastor should be 
treated with th^^ utmost consideration by 
the .superintendent and all the officers and 
teachers. Even if he is not as well trained 
as some of the officers and teachers of the 
school, that must make no difference at all 
as long as he is pastor, for he represents 
the church, and to respect and hear him is 
to respect and hear the church. Let not 
the superintendent ever refer to this pastor 
in the school at any time in any way that 
would cause the scholars to suppose the pas- 



how; to study and teach the bible. 566 

tor is not respected. Let him teach or not, as 
he sees fit. He is generally thought to be 
best suited to instruct the Old Folk's Class. 
This is all a mistake except in the case of 
an old pastor, or one already out of touch 
with the young people. If the pastor is 
alive, and keeps his eyes open, his best work 
can be done with a class between the ages 
of twelve and twenty. If the school is a 
small one, the pastor certainly ought to take 
a class unless he is only present once or 
twice a month, as the case may be in the 
country. If present at church each Sun- 
day, he should be present in school each 
Sunday. But if. he refuses to help the 
school in any way, the matter should be 
taken up with pastor and officers to find out 
the cause. Whatever the cause, let it be 
righted at once. In the case of a large 
school, which is usually connected with a 
large church, the pastor may not be able 
to take a regular class, but in such cases the 
officers and teachers should elect the pastor 
to teach the lesson at the teachers' meeting, 
or teachers' training classes. A church is 
unfortunate that has a pastor in these days 
that is not competent to instruct the teach- 
ers, at least in the spiritual teachings in 



666 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

the lessons. If he has not had any experi- 
ence as a teacher himself and is unac- 
quainted with the principles of teaching, 
then the superintendent or some other prac- 
tical teacher might lecture on the pedagogi- 
cal aspects of the lesson, suggesting what 
to emphasize in the lessons for the different 
classes. But the pastor is always able to 
greatly edify us all on the spiritual side of 
the lesson, and this is greatly needed to- 
day in our schools. He should be asked to 
close the school when present. It matters 
not how far advanced a superintendent may 
be, let his bearing toward the pastor be one 
of respect and humility, and the same should 
characterize the pastor in his bearing. 

This matter of the place of the pastor in 
the schools is very important because there 
grows out of it the matter of the attendance 
of the school upon the worship services of 
the church. In too many cases large num- 
bers of the Sunday school people go away 
from the morning services after the school 
as if instruction did away with worship. 
Every officer and teacher should set the ex- 
ample of attendance upon the service, and 
the Sunday school service ought never to be 
prolonged beyond the regular time, so as to 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 567 

let the pupils see the attitude of the teach- 
ers and officers in attending church services. 
No meeting of the officers or teachers 
should ever be held between the services of 
the school and the morning service of the 
church. Let the teachers impress the pu- 
pils in the classes on this matter. Having 
done all possible along this line, we shall 
have to turn the matter over to the pastor 
to handle, and he should be given full op- 
portunity at each session to properly im- 
press the school. 

The Rev. S. L. McDowell, B. Th., pastor 
of the First Colored Baptist Church, Nash- 
ville, Tenn., has the children seated right up 
front in the middle aisle at the morning 
service, and after usual preliminaries, he 
gives the children a story embodying some 
practical Bible truth in a five minute talk, 
then allows them to contribute and after- 
ward pass out. Only those usually pass 
out who are up to eight years, while the oth- 
ers usually remain. Then after a song the 
pastor preaches the young people and 
adult's sermon. This is an excellent plan, and 
where there is an annex to one side of the 
church with sliding or folding doors, the 
plan could be worked to even greater ad- 



568 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

vantage. This plan stresses the important 
fact that children require shorter sermons 
and church services, and unless these be 
conceded we cannot hold children of the 
tender age to the services. The school af- 
fords the pastor a fine opportunity to im- 
press the young people along devotional 
lines, and the school must put nothing in 
his way. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. How should the school regard itself as rela^ted to 
the church? 

2. How should this relation be acknowledged? 

3. Who represents the church in the school? 

4. How should pastor be treated in the school, and why? 

5. What part should the pastor take in a city school? 

6. In a country school? 

7. Why should pastor be shown so much consideration 
in the school? 

8. What is the plan for reaching children in 
morning services as employed by Pastor Mc- 
Dowell ? 



IX. 

HOW TO SECURE PROMPTNESS. 

If tbe question were how to secure 
promptness of attendance on the part of 
the pupils, the answer would be easy, for if 
teachers themselves are prompt the pupils 
will attend on time. The fact is that in many- 
cases the pupils are on hand as sheep with- 
out a shepherd, and their teacher is nowhere 
in sight. Our trouble in the matter of 
promptness is rather with the teachers than 
the pupils and it would seem that we should 
first of all try to secure promptness on the 
part of the teachers. 

It would be a good plan to have the teach- 
ers take a part in the opening of the school, 
a definite part, that may interest them to 
attend. Let the teachers march in the pro- 
cessional at the head of their classes. Let 
each class have its own banner in the 
march, provided it can be fastened securely 
in its place when the class is first seated. 

(569) 



570 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

Then after the march, let the teachers have 
a responsive reading altogether among 
themselves lasting two minutes at least. 
Let a record be kept of the promptness of 
teachers, and let it be posted in the school 
and made a part of the church record. Let 
a reward be offered in some way adequate 
to inspire their promptness. Promptness 
on the part of the pupils can be secured by 
using a processional in opening the school, 
that is, let the pupils march while singing 
some suitable hymn. Let the choir lead the 
processional, and then let each teacher 
march in at the head of his class. They all 
are urged to be present five minutes be- 
fore time and assemble in classes with their 
teachers. The processional is not a march 
to marching music, but it is a solemn parade 
while singing inspiring music, and is a great 
help to the spiritual and devotional life of 
the school. The march goes with a day 
school while the processional goes with a 
religious service. Then they can be dis- 
missed in the same way by a recessional. 
This will help the attendance and the de- 
votion. 

Another way to secure promptness is to 
secure public school recognition of units 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 571 

and marks of both teachers and pupils. 
This cannot be done unless the standard of 
the school is improved, but in case the marks 
given in Sunday school count as credit in 
public schools the pupils will have a strong 
incentive to come on time. It may be that 
the County Sunday School Convention might 
arrange with the County Superintendent 
of Education to allow marks public school 
teachers get for meritorious work in the 
Sunday school count in their exam- 
inations for certificates or promotion. Per- 
haps the arrangement could be made by the 
State body and the State officer. In this 
way public school teachers might also be in- 
terested both to attend and also do better 
work. 

Again, effort should be made to find out 
whether the pupils and teachers have clocks 
or watches to guide them as to time. Often 
it will be found that they have no timepiece 
and their tardiness is not always as culpable 
as it may appear. See what can be done to 
enable them to know the time. How about 
a church bell? So far as pupils are con- 
cerned it is not such a difficult matter to 
secure promptness, provided only they have 
timepieces, for some come too early and 



572 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

they prefer to be late than too early. But 
it is the teacher that is at the bottom of the 
trouble here and everywhere else in Sunday 
school work. Perhaps it would be well for 
each class to have an assistant teacher se- 
lected from the Teacher Training Class, and 
let this assistant perform the duties of a 
regular teacher until she arrives. This 
practice work by the aspiring teacher will 
prove interesting and helpful to him, and a 
younger person can always be depended up- 
on for promptness in such cases. 

Again, especially in well established city 
Sunday schools, where an abundance of 
teachers is available, do not allow teachers 
who are habitually behind to teach. In 
fact, all teachers who refuse to attend 
Teachers' Meetings and who are fifteen 
minutes late to the school ought not to be 
allowed to teach, unless it is impossible to 
do better. There are some schools where 
this would be of service, but ordinarily the 
schools are at the mercy of the teachers. On 
the whole. Teacher Training Classes are the 
hope of the future. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 673 
QUESTIONS. 

1. Who lis most responsible for tardiness in mos>t 
schools ? 

2. What can be done to overcome teachers and offi- 
cers' tardiness? 

3. What can be done to promote promptness by pupils t 

4. What is a processional? 



X. 

RECREATION FOR THE SCHOOL. 

This is a matter that should not cause 
much worry in the Sunday school for the 
reason that we do not have the pupils of ten- 
er than once a week, and all between the 
Sundays they are resting mostly from the 
kind of work we do in the Sunday school. 
The schools are accustomed to carrying the 
children and others on a picnic once a year 
at least. Some one has suggested that the 

school ought to go ahead and decide what 
forms of amusement or recreation are al- 
lowable for the pupils. But really that is a 
matter for the church to pass on. It may 
be a good plan to encourage the young peo- 
ple in some healthy form of recreation 
sometimes, but let the church and the pastor 
take the lead. The Sunday school was not 
organized for pleasure, but for study and 
service, and the pupils will find time for rest 

(576) 



576 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

in all cases. They rest more than they 
work now. 

About the only form of recreation we 
can afford to strongly recommend here is 
the organization of lads and youths into 
Baptist Boy Cadets upon the plan set forth 
by Dr. D. A. Scott, and a similar organiza- 
tion could function for the girls. Recrea- 
tion is afforded by this plan, but discipline 
and self-control are also taught. So far as 
baseball is concerned, we have nothing to say 
to encourage the paying of large gate fees 
to witness games in which we take no part 
at all. There is something abnormal in 
the present day madness of baseball fans. 
Exercise is not exercise unless each person 
has some part in the play. 

But organized classes will arrange their 
own recreation along with their other social 
activities, but that would be a class matter, 
and not a school arrangement. They could 
provide games that allow thought as well 
as exercise. 

We trust that our viewpoint in this mat- 
ter will not be mistaken, and that our young 
people may not for a moment think that we 
have no sympathy with their ideas. But 
circvimstances are so different in each com- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 577 

munity that what might be permissible and 
proper in one place may be very improper 
in another place. This is not said because 
of a fear of criticism, but because it ought 
to be said. The playing of dominoes, cards, 
croquet, baseball, etc., pass right along as 
all right in some communities, and no one 
raises any question. However, in other 
communities, cards may not be allowed to 
go except over severe protest, or it may be 
dominoes, or it may be croquet or baseball 
that is disapproved. Now this protest on 
the part of good people, however out of 
touch with the times, should be duly heeded 
to the extent that the matter might be 
brought up before the church for its de- 
termination. It is largely a matter of the 
attitude of the church on such matters, and 
Paul gives a clear deliverance on such mat- 
ters in the fourteenth chapter of Romans, 
and we should govern ourselves according- 

ly. 

Touching dancing, there is hardly much 
difference among Baptists in all communi- 
ties, unless it be a few individual Baptists 
who are of little service to the cause. The 
fascination of Herod that led to the death 
of John the Baptist ought to be enough to 



578 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE, 

decide the Christian attitude on this matter. 
Again, dancing folks are never active and 
useful Christians, but they prefer to keep 
company with the dancing set rather than 
with their own fellow Christians. And yet 
we say here with emphasis that this whole 
matter is up to the local church which has 
full power to handle it under Matthew 16: 
18, 19. But what should be said here is 
what Paul says in Romans : "There is noth- 
ing unclean of itself,'' and what he there 
says means that since the church regards 
these things as unclean, then they become 
unclean to Christians. It is the spirit of 
the person Vv^ho does these things that de- 
cides the matter, and the very spirit of any 
dancing person is not the Holy Spirit, the 
Spirit of Jesus. So with games. Where 
any game leads to association with im^proper 
persons it is wrong. A devotee of these 
things is a useless person to the cause of 
Christ. Certainly the Sunday school is not 
the body to divide people by championing 
anything that is disapproved by the church. 
It is up to those believing these things all 
right to take the matter to the church and 
persuade the church if they are able to do 
so out of God's word. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 579 

We must say this word to the pastor, 
however, as leader of the church. It is not 
fitting to array the church against young 
people in such of these forms of amusement 
as now are acceptable to the great majority 
of the churches, but the young people must 
see that the church sympathizes and is only 
trying to serve their highest interests. Take 
the matter of moving pictures : let the pas- 
tor give reasons and show the evil. If the 
older members attend Sunday school they 
will be in a better position to decide on mat- 
ters like this. Sometimes when the church 
and school get together on the matter it 
would be capital to let the young people 
center their recreation and gymnastic ac- 
tivities around the school. One parting 
word to leave here to church members is 
that when young people's recreation is criti- 
cized they are apt to. scrutinize the moral 
standard of living in the church, and if they 
find the church silent on immorality and out- 
spoken against young people's recreation 
they will lose confidence in church people 
and may drop off altogether. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Is there any special reason why the Sunday school 
should greatly concern itself with the matter of 
recreation? If so, state the reason. 



580 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 



2. What forms of recreation arouse opposition among 
churches ? 

3. What should be the position of the ischool's on these 
matters ? 

4. What general suggestion is offered? 

5. What is said of dancing? 

6. What of moving pictures? 

7. What of morality among the church members? 



XL 

THE SOCIAL SIDE OF THE SUNDAY 

SCHOOL. 

There is the spiritual side, and there is the 
educational side of the school, but we should 
be reminded that there is a social side that 
must not be neglected. It is doubtless due 
to this neglect that it becomes hard to hold 
pupils when they reach the period where 
society enters their lives. The organized 
class is intended partly to meet this need, 
but even this class will fail in this respect 
if they meet only at the regular Sunday 
school hour when they study the lesson. To 
properly train the pupils socially they ought 
to meet together as often as possible at 
parties and suppers and in literary enter- 
tainments, where they could be introduced 
to each other, and grow to know each other. 
The social feeling is very strong in normal 
persons, and serves to hold the school as 
well as the church together. The church is 
as real a social as it is a spiritual center. 

(581) 



582 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

When the social side of the church is neg- 
lected, or when the church happens to be 
composed of persons who do not mix so- 
cially, it will be hard to make the work a 
success. The same is true of the Sunday 
school. If a school is composed of pupils 
that never see each other except at Sunday 
school, such a school is laboring under a 
great disadvantage that must be overcome 
in some way if there is hope of success. It of- 
ten happens that the pupils live so far from 
each other in city and in country that they 
do not meet together except at the church, 
and often they know very little of each oth- 
er. Sometimes the pupils do not care to 
meet each other because of the radical dif- 
ference in social standing. But all these 
things should be overcome in order to make 
the school's influence and power what it 
should be. 

While the organized class should help to 
overcome social barriers by week day social 
gatherings of the class once in three months, 
it would not be a bad plan to have all of the 
organized classes or all the classes in any 
department to come together in a depart- 
mental social group once or twice a year, 
the early part of the meeting consisting of a 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 683 

literary program. Or, in case of the males 
there might be a debate. There might be 
three divisional social groupings to provide 
for the children at an afternoon party, and 
the young people an entertainment, and a 
dinner or supper for the adults. If this side 
of the school is attended to it would soon 
show its results in increased attendance and 
efficiency. It is sometimes the social life 
that makes a school a success, while the offi- 
cers may think the success is due to another 
cause. One thing is certain, and that is 
that we find it hard to secure sufficient and 
competent workers and teachers, because 
such young people come to Sunday school 
for spiritual or educational reasons, but they 
are identified with a different group alto- 
gether in their social life. That is very of- 
ten the case, and as long as this is true, we 
will fail in doing effective work for them. 
Dancing and gambling and moving pictures 
have a hold on certain young people because 
they constitute the life of their social group. 
There must be a re-grouping socially if we 
expect to overcome this worldly influence. 
We must work to the end of bringing our 
pupils into closer social relation to the en- 
tire school. The kind of Sunday school we 



584 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

are aiming to build up in every community 
will do such helpful work and render such 
service to an entire community that it will 
commend itself to the highest social group 
in a community, and thus let the strong help 
the weak. 

There are all sorts of entertainments that 
would serve this social need, and those in 
charge should never let the social side die 
down, but keep it alive and interested in 
many other ways that our own experience 
may suggest. 

Unless we reach the school in a social way 
we are not reaching the pupils at all the 
way to best help them. The church and 
school should both look after this miatter, 
for really this is the cause of our failure to 
both hold and develop the teen age pupils 
more successfully. When a young person 
is converted he should cease to company 
with unconverted persons as far as possi- 
ble in intimate association. If he can be 
broken away he will then be broken in, and 
he will not give much trouble. The whole 
matter of living a Christian life is largely 
involved in the question of the company of 
young people. As already intimated, there 
are hundreds of successful schools not be- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 585 

cause the superintendent and teachers are 
so efficient, but largely because the church 
and school constitute the center of the so- 
cial life of the members, and anything un- 
dertaken there is a success. This is true, 
and should convince us that this matter 
should receive careful consideration. 

Now then, what can be done to remedy 
the social situation in the Sunday school? 
The answer is easy. Get the teachers and 
pupils of all divisions and classes to know 
each other better and associate with each 
other. Get the pastor to stress the social 
side of Christianity, and give the Sunday 
school lessons a social as well as a spiritual 
interpretation. Organize all classes at least 
above fifteen years of age, and get them all 
to work. Have neighborhood meetings 
through the Cradle Roll and Home Depart- 
ments. Let each president and teacher of 
a class become responsible socially for each 
class. Make the prayer meeting inviting 
and really helpful by selecting a Scripture 
bearing upon some subject of a social as 
well as a spiritual application, let the leader 
talk on the passage ten or fifteen minutes 
then ask expressions altogether restricted 
to the subject as well as the prayers and 



586 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

songs and open and close on time. There 
are many ways to promote the social life of 
a school, so many in fact that space at 
our command requires us to close the lesson 
here. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. How many sides of church life should receive at- 
tention? Name each. 

2. What are the difficulties in the way? 

3. What sugg-estion is made to improve the social life? 



XII. 

HOW TO SECURE NEW TEACHERS. 

1. A start must be made in time. The 
superintendent must take pains to plan to 
this end. This matter should rest on his 
mind all the time. 

2. He should keep his eye on young men 
and young women beginning around the 
sixteenth year, and make it a point to place 
before each one the opportunity and the 
need, and this to mean the call of God to 
service. He should make a list of such per- 
sons, and upon some convenient opportuni- 
ty let him invite all these persons to a social 
gathering, a supper at his own or some 
other house, and make it the occasion to or- 
ganize them into a Teacher Training Class 
to be conducted by himself, so as to hold 
them to the class. This class would take 
the place of the Senior last year or first year 
Young People. Let the class do some real 
work for at least a year, but let members 

(587) 



588 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

of this class be used as supply teachers one 

Sunday at a time, and this supply work will 

give opportunity for the expressional work 

so necessary to thorough teaching and 
learning. 

Moreover, the superintendent must not 
depend upon any one method. He should 
bear in mind that as chief executive officer 
and administrator the matter of securing 
suitable and sufficient teachers is his special 
work, and he is expected to measure up to 
the job. There is no other person as re- 
sponsible as he is for securing teachers, and 
if he falls down here, his school goes down 
at the same time. 

He must cultivate the friendship of young 
men and young women, and show interest in 
them, and seek to serve them in other ways. 
Often he might be able to place them in 
good positions through his influence. It is 
up to him to make these Young People he 
wishes to become teachers feel interested 
enough to make the sacrifice. The school 
should be made so interesting that it be- 
comes popular, and when it becomes popu- 
lar, it will not be hard to secure teachers. 
One of the best methods for increasing the 
general drawing power of the school is to 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 589 

make the general exercises or program of 
the school attractive by music and some- 
times by training an orchestra. Take the 
matter to heart and keep it on your mind 
and results will follow. Speak in the church 
services of the need of consecrated young 
people for work in the school. They can be 
kept away from the theatre and dance hall 
oftener by showing that their services 
are actually needed in this work, than by de- 
nouncing their dancing and theatre-going. 
Indeed, this appealing to them to make sac- 
rifice and help in this work will reach their 
consciences and make the pleasure seeking 
stand out in its right light as worldliness. 
Instead of denouncing all the time, find 
work for them and urge them to deny them- 
selves to help others. 

Again, whenever young converts of prop- 
er age enter the church, let the superinten- 
dent without delay put up to them the mat- 
ter of consecrating themselves and prepar- 
ing themselves to teach in the school. This 
will probably prove the way to secure the 
best teachers after all and it will start the 
young convert off in the right direction. 
The cause is suffering because we fail to in- 
duct young converts into a stated responsi- 
bility from the first, for when their enthusi- 



590 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

asm abates, it is hard to impress upon them 
their call to special service. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the first sug'gestion made to increase the 
teaching force? 

2. What is the second sug'gestion? 

3. What is the final suggestion? 

4. What is recommended to increaso the dra/wing pow- 
er of the school? 



XIII. 

EVANGELISM IN THE SUNDAY 
SCHOOL. 

It is stated upon good authority that only- 
two out of five scholars attending our Sun- 
day schools actually make a public profes- 
sion of Christ and relate themselves defi- 
nitely to our churches. This has not always 
been so, for in earlier days before the idea 
of the Sunday school being a school received 
so much emphasis, there was more empha- 
sis upon evangelism, and more young people 
became active church members. We must 
certainly take care not to push the intel- 
lectual idea at the expense of the spiritual. 
We can hardly hope to do strictly high class 
educational work within the hour we have 
our pupils in the Sunday school, to say noth- 
ing about the difficulty and almost impossi- 
bility of securing a sufficient number of pre- 
pared teachers. We may aim at the school 
standard, and lose sight of the real objec- 

(591) 



592 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 



tive of the school after all which is to help 
the church to become the power it should be 
in the lives of the members and in the com- 
munity. If we are not careful, it will fail 
both in the educational and in the spiritual 
aims, and it is certainly high time our at- 
tention should be called to the situation. 
The school that wins all of its pupils to 
Christ is a success in the highest sense if it 
holds them and instructs them in the Chris- 
tian life. There is no teaching of the Chris- 
tian life to any person who is not a Chris- 
tian, and conversion must be the first aim of 
the teacher. To succeed as a school the 
young convert must be held to the school 
until he learns the meaning and service of 
Christian living. 

There is great need of increasing the de- 
votional spirit which will help the evangel- 
istic spirit. The devotional life of the 
school is largely in the hands of the super- 
intendent whose business should be to pro- 
vide a suitable program for the general ex- 
ercises of the school. The Sunday school 
literature usually contains a program in 
each quarterly, and these may differ for 
the various departments, or they should dif- 
fer, whether they do or not, for the pupils 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 593 

using them are expected to be separated by 
divisions or departments. But the super- 
intendent need not restrict himself to these 
programs. 

At the point in the program for superin- 
tendent's talk, he might speak of the need 
of confessing Christ, and show the way to 
Christ, and urge to consecration. 

Decision Day is a help to promote evan- 
gelism. We must give our pupils to under- 
stand that the matter of this accepting and 
confessing Christ is going to be put up to 
them on a certain day, and then let the su- 
perintendent use his five minutes talk to 
prepare them for that day. When Decision 
Day does finally come, the usual program 
might be varied. In fact, if the superinten- 
dent gets out his own program every three 
months, then the program for the three 
months should end up for the quarter with 
Decision Day, and such a program should be 
so arranged as to lead the pupils to be 
thinking on the matter of accepting Christ 
when the opportunity comes on Decision 
Day. On that day, instead of the regular 
lesson the pupils pass to the classes 
not to study the lesson, but to hear 
an appeal from the teacher and for 

Sig.— 20. 



594 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

prayer, and they can sign cards, and then 
openly confess Christ upon re-assembling. 

These are suggestions that others find 
helpful. The main thing is to see our duty 
and opportunity as officers and teachers. 
Let us not blame the others for the lack of 
converts now, but let all feel responsible. 
The pastor is the natural leader along this 
line, but we may point out to him some sug- 
gestion and offer to help. 

In olden days it was understood that 
whenever any person felt the influence of 
the Spirit, it was proper then and there to 
speak out. That is still true. Let not one 
wait for the other, but at the teachers^ meet- 
ings, and in the general exercises of the 
school, rise up and call the unsaved to Jesus. 

No special time is suggested for Decision 
Day. That will depend upon local condi- 
tions. The superintendent should confer 
with the pastor and time the day to the usu- 
al revival services, and more than one Sun- 
day could be set aside. But if there is any 
uncertainty or hesitation on the part of 
the churchy then the school can fix its day 
and thus not lose the opportunity. 

It has been suggested here that evangel- 
ism grows in an atmosphere of devotion, and 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 595 

devotional life is largely shaped by the gen- 
eral program. 

But we should never forget that the class 
and the teacher should serve as the basis 
of evangelism. No lesson should be taught 
that has not been planned to lead the pupil 
to accept Christ. This lesson should be fol- 
lowed by personal effort on the part of the 
teacher, and on the part of such classmates 
as may be interested to do so. This person- 
al evangelism is the most effective. But a 
proper program helps to impress the teach- 
er to impress the pupils. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the proportion of the Sunday school pupils 
that unite with the church? 

2. What one mistake in modern - Sunday school work 
is hield responsible for this shortage? 

3. What is suggested as a method to remedy the situa- 
tion? 

4. What is suggested as to the way to observe De- 
cision Day? 

5. What is said of personal work? 



XIV. 

THE OPPORTUNITY OF THE COUN- 
TRY SUNDAY SCHOOL. 

The great majority of our Baptist Sunday 
schools are supposed to be in rural districts, 
but no doubt the total number of Sunday 
school scholars in towns and cities will con- 
stitute two-thirds of our total enrollment. 
This is because the problem of the country 
school is largely a problem of the little 

school. Of course, there is the general 
problem of the country roads and distances 
and inconveniences; but we should not be- 
come discouraged if we should be unable to 
revise the age long situation, and make the 
country as convenient as the city. That 
can be done approximately as the years roll 
on, but Sunday school people must not set- 
tle down to the condition as hopeless and 
adopt a pessimistic or indifferent attitude 
toward all progress in the world. 

(597) 



598 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

There is always on hand at conventions 
the country superintendent who can show 
just why all suggestions we may offer can 
not be carried out in the rural school, and 
we are inclined to view the matter as he 
does, when we think of the fact that the 
rural churches seldom have preaching of ten- 
er than once a month, and we regard that 
the school can do no better than the church. 

But let us stop to see why most of the 
churches do not have services oftener. It 
certainly is not because the people are not 
able to come to church each Sunday, for 
most country people go some place every 
Sunday, and are very apt to attend some 
other churches the Sundays when their own 
pastor is away. Sometimes we think they 
do not like to tax themselves enough to pay 
a pastor for all his time, or for half his time ; 
but there are many cases where they pay a, 
pastor enough for one Sunday to secure a 
pastor for each Sunday in the month. 

It seems, therefore, that the majority of 
country churches deliberately prefer serv- 
ices at their church only one Sunday a month 
in order that they may be free to visit oth- 
er churches or perhaps visit neighbors. So 
then the condition that Sunday School su- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 599 

perintendents are up against can be 
changed, if only the right man gets behind 
the movement; and he wants to put so 
much determination and enthusiasm and 
downright hard work into the school that 
it will prove interesting to the church peo- 
ple to stay at their own church on Sunday 
even when the pastor is not present. One 
reason why they like to leave is because 
everything is so dead slow. 

Indeed, the country school has many ad- 
vantages over the city school, and one of the 
most notable is that practically the whole 
day is at the service of the school, except on 
preaching Sunday, and the sessions of the 
school do not have to be hurried for effec- 
tive work. In the city the morning serv- 
ice crowds the school, and the early hour 
causes the scholars to be tardy, while the 
country school hour could be fixed at 11 a. 
m., to hold the members to the home church, 
except on preaching day when it could be 
earlier. Sometimes we fail to see our ad- 
vantages by dwelling too much upon our 
disadvantages. 

Just imagine what an opportunity a coun- 
try Sunday school has to make itself felt in a 
community if they would open their eyes 



600 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

and look out upon the field which is white 
unto the harvest. What is needed is a su- 
perintendent with a vision and one who will 
make a sacrifice to prepare to do the work. 
Let him take our Teacher Training Course 
and at least master this one book. Let him 
study our National Baptist Sunday School 
Standard and make up his mind to start out 
to enroll his as a standard school. Let him 
inform himself of the details of the plan of 
organization of the Abdemelech and Deb- 
bora Classes. Let him study the general 
organized class movement, and the Home 
Department and Cradle Roll. These two 
last named departments might be combined 
into one, and the scope enlarged so as to in- 
clude special meetings of parents, and 
effort should be made to erect a family al- 
tar in each home where there is none. The 
Adult Department might have special dis- 
cussions and debates on the live topics of the 
day in their relation to Christian principles, 
and on other occasions could secure lec- 
tures by experts on subjects of special in- 
terest to farmers. 

The fact is, the Sunday school has the 
best of the church for reaching the com- 
munity by reason of the once a month serv- 
ice of the church. The school meets prac- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 601 

tically every Sunday unless the weather is 
inclement. Country schools should be very 
careful in calling upon the church to name 
a superintendent who is acceptable to the 
church upon recommendation of the pastor 
and officers and Sunday school officers, for 
this superintendent can make himself felt 
as effectively as the pastor in the communi- 
ty if he is progressive. 

Let country superintendents not offer a 
reason why anything cannot be done to im- 
prove the school until each suggestion has 
been given an honest trial. 

In a Teacher Training book it is neces- 
sary that information should be imparted 
that will enable a school to take rank as a 
standard school. We cannot keep all the 
schools back because some cannot adopt the 
new plans. The standard must be standard 
for all. 

In the matter of grading, as has already 
been indicated, the classes ought to have at 
least three different grades if no more; i. 
e., children, young people, and adults are 
to be grouped separately for teaching. 

Surely, it is a poor school that cannot do 
this. As the school enlarges and more 
workers are secured, there might be two 
grades for each of the above groups and so 



602 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

on. What is needed is love for the work 
and common sense, and a continuous course 
of study in teacher training. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Where are the majority of Baptist Sunday schools 
situated ? 

2. How about relation of membership of city and rural 
schools ? 

3. State some reasons why it is hard to bring' the rural 
school up to a hig'her standard. 

4. State the reasons that favor the country over the 
city school. 

5. What is offered as a means of improving the conn- 
trv school? 



XV. 
THE PROGRAM OF THE SCHOOL. 

In the broadest sense the standard of ex- 
cellence when adopted, becomes the gener- 
al program of the Sunday school because it 
shows the general aim and scope of the 
work and the means for reaching the end. It 
is confidently expected that each school will 
adopt the Standard as its program and then 
keep the program before the school and aim 
to work up to it as rapidly as possible. 

But it is the session program we are to 
consider in this lesson which means the or- 
der of procedure in the conduct of the Sun- 
day session of the school. One of our rea- 
sons for having such a program is to see 
that no essential is neglected, and another 
is to impress the devotional spirit, and a 
third reason is to secure promptness, since 
the program, if properly arranged, is a 
drawing influence to the school. But all de- 
pends upon how the program is arranged 
and what it includes. 

(603) 



604 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

There are certain features that every 
program for a school session ought to in- 
clude, and one is music, another is the teach- 
ing of a new song, and another responsive 
reading impressing certain phases of the 
devotional life, another the special instruc- 
tion from the superintendent's desk, and 
a march or a processional and a recessional. 

The processional is far superior to the 
march in opening and closing the sessions. 
Some schools still open in the same old way 
without music, but a large number now 
close with the m.arch, and also dismiss the 
pupils to study the lesson with a m_arch. 
The m.arch has the disadvantage sometimes 
of provoking the pupils to hilarity or ir- 
reverence and especially w^here jazz is 
played as the m.arch. It is now urged in 
some quarters that the processional is far 
superior to the march, as the processional 
means the pupils march to the time of a re- 
ligious song, and they sing the song as they 
march. Of course it can be seen that if a 
proper selection is made the processional 
could be made very impressive and devo- 
tional. The most beautiful and appropri- 
ate selection that can be made for that pur- 
pose is: "Ten Thousand Times Ten Thou- 
sand," which is number 674 in the regular 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 605 

Baptist Hymnal. It is suggested that if it 
is planned to open the session of the school 
regularly at a certain hour by forming and 
marching and singing the processional, it 
will prove a helpful stimulus to induce 
promptness on the part of pupils and teach- 
ers. Let the teachers march at the head of 
their classes, and let all aim to be present 
so as to form the line promptly on time. 
Promptly on the minute, let the procession- 
al begin, and let the march extend once 
around the entire assembly room and then 
each class is seated with the teacher. If 
there is a Sunday school choir and it would 
add to the interest and enthusiasm, the 
choir might march at the head of the pro- 
cession in their vestments. Until this meth- 
od is actually tried out all schools should 
plan its adoption as it both leads to prompt- 
ness and devotion. The school could use 
another suitable recessional to march the en- 
tire school from its assembly room into the 
regular morning services. Yes, the Sunday 
school program ought to contain something 
that would conduct the pupil from the 
• school into the morning services without 
any dismissal at all, and the recessional is 
the ideal way. Other selections for hymns 



606 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

can be made for a processional like: "On- 
ward Christian Soldiers." 

Another feature of a session program 
ought to allow time for the entire school to 
practice a new piece of music under the di- 
rection of the chorister each Sunday, and- 
the time for this practice should be immedi- 
ately upon entrance after the processional, 
thus offering a double incentive to prompt- 
ness, which is so common an evil every- 
where, and teachers are more responsible 
for it than pupils. To secure promptness will 
at once indicate a progressive school. The 
chorister or organist should be employed to 
take charge of the music and he could be 
paid by concert recitals and giving private 
music lessons. Another feature of the ses- 
sion program should be time for a stated 
talk by the superintendent from the desk 
to the school, not to scold them for short- 
comings, but to impart special instructions 
along the lines suggested in the Standard 
of Excellence, and he should not talk longer 
than ten minutes. On occasions he might 
have some one else to prepare to fill this 
number, and sometimes could divide the ' 
time with some other person to read a five- 
minute paper. A quartet might sing a num- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 607 

ber each Sunday. Some schools have an 
orchestra more or less pretentious. This 
is all right, but must not take the place of 
vocal music and choral services and congre- 
gational singing. It has already been said 
that a program will induce promptness, but 
it is also true that a right program will 
prove a great attraction in securing a larg- 
er membership. Do not neglect the study 
period, but put pep and brain into the pro- 
gram of general exercises and it will beget 
much enthusiasm. 

Below we suggest the outline of a suitable 
program : 

9 :30 — Processional and opening prayer. 
9 :40 to 10 — Vocal recital of new song. 

10 to 10:10 — Responsive reading. 

10:10 to 10:40 — Lesson period. 

10:40 to 10:50 — Talk from superinten- 
dent's desk. 

10:55 to 11 — Recessional into morning 
service. 

Of course it is no part of our plan to 
shape details of a program that would suit 
all the schools. We have only outlined certain 
outstanding essentials, and each superintend, 
dent should make his own program and 
when it is made, it should be carried out. 



608 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Distinguish the two ideas of pro-am. 

2. What is a recessional and a processional? 

3. What order of session prog-ram is suggested? 

4. What suggestion is made about closing the Sunday 
school session ? 

5. What hymn is suggested as a processional or a re- 
cessional ? 

6. What advance has the processional on the march? 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Principles and Ideals of the Sunday School 

Burton and Matthews. 

The Beginner's Department Louise M. Oglevee. 

Organizing and Building up a Sunday School 

J. L. Hurlbert. 

Missions in the Sunday School Martha B. Hixon. 

Problems of Intermediate and Senior Teachers 

E. C. Foster, 

The Graded Sunday School in Principle and Prac- 
tice H. H. Meyer. 

Modern Methods in Sunday School Work G. W. Meade. 

City Institute for Religious Teaching W. S. Athearne. 

The Sunday School Building and Its Equipment- _ 
H. H. Evans. 

The Modern Sunday School and Its Present Day 

Work __- H. F. Cope. 

How to Run a Little Sunday School E. M. Ferguson. 

Graded Mission Education in the Church ^S. F. Beard. 

The Church Schoc^l Walter S. Athearne. 

The Home Department Minnie K. L. KarnelL 

Keystone Training Course for Teachers — First Year. 

IThoroughly Furnished Westminister Standard Teachers* 
Training Course. 

First Standard Manual of Teacher Training Course. 

Sunday School Essentials Amis R. Wells. 

Housing of the Sunday School Marion Lawrence. 

Sunday School at Work John T. Fards, D. D. 

Seven Laws of Teaching Gregory. 

Tralle*s Teacher Training Essentials. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 609 

The Ministry of the Sunday School Pattison. 

An Ideal School Search. 

The Art of School Management Baldwin. 

Efficiency of the Sunday Schooll Cope. 






o 

CO 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

TEACHER TRAINING CHART ARRANGED BY S. N. VASS. 



THE SCHOOL. 



BEGINNERS. 
T, „ . 4 to 5. 

Use Beginner's Quarterly. 



PRIMARY. 

6. 7. 8. 
Use Primary Quarterly. 



THE PUPIL. 



THE TEACHER. 



Child not to attend school until 4 
better physically developed. 



Active, Animism, Shy, Plays alone. Affec- 
tionate. Imagination uncontrolled, Credu- 
lous, Feelings dominate, Fanciful. Depend- 
ent, Fearful. 



Play imitative. Reason budding. Imagina- 
tion, More social. Openness, Consi.iteiicy, 
Memory pictures, Curiosity, Will erowing. 



JUNIOR. 
9, 10, 11. 
Use Junior Quarterly. 



Growing independence. Fight, Play competi- 
tive. Hero worship. Sexes apart. Loyalty, 
Imagination, Habit fixing. Verbal memory. 
Gangs, Will develops. Altruistic, Reason, 
Teasine, 



INTERMEDIATE. 
12, 13, 14. 
Use Intermediate Quarterly. 



SENIOR. 
15, 16, 17. 
Quarterly. 



Companionship, Self-conscious, Play com- 
petitive. Intellectual, Entire physical revolu- 
tion. Social instinct. Less energy. Morality, 
Conversion, Moody^ ^___ 



Conscience. Sentimental, Conversion, Lead- 
ership, Increased energy. Social, Critical, 
Morality, Intellectual, Religion, Aspiring, 
Choice — right or wrong. 



YOUNG PEOPLE. I 

18, 19. 20. 

Use Abdemelech and Debbora Magazine or ' 
Teacher Training Book. 



ADULT. 
21 years and up. 
Use Abdemelech and Debbora Magazine. 



Endurance. Courageous, Disillusionized, 
Self-sufficient, individuality. Social life. 
Doubt, Experience, Sex attraction. New 
moral vision. Many interests. Comradeship. 



At work. Poor opportunity and indifference. 
Some cannot read. 



i^°f'nr Vi? it^<=''.«'- and a suitable periodical 
and°devotions "^ '""^ '° *™" "> P'-'^^^'- 



fonS^oSnJ''?,i^V P'«t»™^. Songs, Motion 
to°"h\%°t°,!?o^u|l?'t"h^|\e%"k". ^''"'^ ^^*^ '"°"^- 



Co°oi? Dic^ifreTIi Symbols. Songs. Marches, 
get LShe^ tn h^f '^ P"=t.ures in book and 
set motner to help get pictures. 



Assignments, Home work. Hand work 



THE BIBLE. 



study the regular Sunday school lesson in 
Cradle Roll and Home Department or Ab- 
demelech and Debbora Magazine. 



God, His care and protection. Teach to know 
God as Father .and Jesus as Friend and 
Helper, and lead to show love for God by 
obedience and kindness. 



God's loving kindness, love and work of Je- 
sus. What God desires and commands. In- 
spire reverence and make appeal to choose 
and obey God and Jesus. 



Memorize passages. Number of Bible books 
and Life of Jesus. Bible History. Geography, 
Ideals and Heroes, Consequences right and 
wrong choice. Awaken love for Bible, Christ 
and Church. 



Rnv'tll*;!!' ^^^1''^' Reports, Boy Cadets or 
iioy Scouts and Camp Fire Girls. 



n»h»L''"'Ji', Sympathetic, Logical examples. 
Debates, Class Reports, Teaching practical. 



O. T. Biography, Life of Christ, Leaders of 
Israel, Christian Life, Personal ideas and 
ideals through biography and lead to ac- 
cept Christ, and Christian life. 



Apostolic Christianity, Bible History, Poet- 
ry of the Bible. Aim at thorough Bible 
knowledge and Christianity as supreme 
and only religion. 



Abdemelech and Debbora Classes 

Teacher Training Classes, 

Organized Classes, 

Lecture method. -Seminar method, Reports 



Lecture method. Discussion method. Semi- 
nar method. Definite work for each mem- 
ber. 



Teachings of Jesus, Social teachings of Je- 
sus, Prophetical books. Christian and De- 
nominational principles. 



Prophecy and Signs of Times, Spiritual in- 
terpretation, Love and grace. The Kingdom 
oJ: Heaven, Christian principles. 



Meet together for study as often as possi- 
ble and establish family altars. 



XVI. 

* ■ ■ ■ r"-ii 

STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE SUNDAY SCHOOL 

PUBLISHING BOARD, NATIONAL BAPTIST 

CONVENTION, U. S. A. 



1. RIGHT RELATIONS. 

2. EVANGELISM. 

3. GRADED INSTRUCTION. 

4. MUSIC. 

5. ORGANIZED CLASSES. 

6. MEMBERSHIP. 

7. CRADLE ROLL. 

8. HOME DEPARTMENT. 

9. TEACHER TRAINING. 

10. WORKERS' CONFERENCES. 

111. SPECIAL INSTRUCTION. 

12. SPECIAL DAYS. 

13. FINANCE. 

I. Right Relations. 

1. To the Church. 

2. To the Denomination. 

1. The school is primarily organized to 
help the work of the local church and so 
whatever is the objective of the church is 
also the aim of the Sunday school, the 

(611) 



612 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

church employing the preaching of the 
word to that end while it intrusts the teach- 
ing of the word to the school. All possible 
proper influence and method should be em- 
ployed to secure the full attendance of the 
school upon the devotional services of the 
church, and no doubt, this will react upon 
the church to adapt its services so as to 
reach the children and young people as well 
as adults. If the church does not elect or 
endorse the Sunday school officers, then a 
report ought, nevertheless, to be made to 
the church once in six months of the condi- 
tion and needs of the school, and this no 
doubt, will serve to draw the church and 
school nearer together. 

2. Moreover, a school ought to share in 
the larger life and activity of the church, 
and should represent especially in district, 
state and national Baptist bodies that are 
seeking to promote increased efficiency in 
the school. A very close relationship ought 
to be sustained especially to our Sunday 
School Publishing Board for material help. 

II. Evangelism. 

1. Personal Work. 

2. Class Work. 

3. General Effort. 



• HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 613 

1. The teacher should remember that all 
his teaching should be aimed at a result, 
and where the pupil is not a Christian, the 
first aim is his conversion, and all instruc- 
tion of a pupil has failed and missed the 
mark unless it leads to his conversion. It 
will be found that personal effort on the 
part of the teacher will have to supplement 
the class instruction to accomplish this end. 

2. The teacher should show such ear- 
nestness in working for the conversion of 
pupils that the Christians in the class will 
catch his spirit and cooperate with him 
both in the class and outside of the class. 
Effort should be made to secure this co- 
operation. Such work should go on all the 
time until all the pupils are converted. 

3. Finally, if the church decides upon a 
general drive for converts along the reviv- 
al line, the school should enter heartily in- 
to the revival effort, but largely restrict its 
efforts to attendance in the day meetings, 
except for the more advanced pupils. 

III. Graded Instruction. 

1. Graded Classes. 

2. Graded Departments. 



614 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

3. Promotions. 

4. Graduation. 

1. Graded Classes. The pupils should 
be grouped as follows in classes: 

1 to 3 years — Cradle Roll. 

4 to 5 years — Beginners. 

6 to 8 years — Primary. 

9 to 11 years — ^Junior. 

12 to 14 years — ^Advanced and Intermediate. 
15 to 17 years — Senior. 
18 to 21 years — Young- People. Use Teacher Training, 

or Abdemelbch and Debbora Magazine. 
21 years and up — ^Adult. 
18 years up — Home Department. 

Where there are several classes in a 
school corresponding to the above grouping 
they constitute a department by the same 
name. If there is only one such class, then 
i5cholars in any one of the above groups may 
be placed in the same class, and yet the 
school will be graded, but graded by groups 
of years instead of each single year. 

2. Graded Departments. A department 
is made up of two or more classes of the 
same grade or groups of years. The classes 
and departments are graded alike by groups 
of years, but if there are enough pupils in 
the department to make up one or more 
classes for each year represented by the 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 615 

department, the proper thing to do is to 
put into each class pupils of the same 
year of age, but each class in the depart- 
ment is to use the same quarterly, which 
is graded to suit all of the years in the de- 
partment. Use the quarterly intended for 
the department, and continue same quar- 
terly for all the years in a department. 

3. Promotions are necessary in the case 
of a school graded as above, not promotions 
after strict passing of examinations, but 
promoting the pupils from one teacher to 
another, the same teacher always remain- 
ing with the same department, and the 
scholar promoted to another teacher. 
This will give us graded teachers. The Be- 
ginner's Quarterly must be used by a pu- 
pil two years; a Primary Quarterly must 
be used for three years ; a Junior Quarter- 
ly for three years ; the Advanced Quarterly 
must be used three years and the Senior 
Quarterly for three years ; the Abdemelech 
and Debbora Magazine three years unless 
certain members of the class take up the 
teacher training course the last three years. 
Promotions are only made when the pupil 
has spent the required number of years in 
a department corresponding to his age. 



616 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

4. Graduation. Promotions naturally lead 
to the idea of graduation, and it would 
greatly stimulate the teen age attendance 
where it is understood a diploma will crown 
their faithfulness. Diplomas should be is- 
sued after proven excellence in attendance, 
character and scholarship, beginning at 
six years and extending to the close of the 
twentieth yean Diplomas should only be 
given to those promising to serve as teach- 
ers and to continue their study of the Bible, 
and to such as have previously studied in 
the teacher training class at least three 
years and passed a satisfactory exami- 
nation. 

IV. Music. 

1. Graded Music. 

2. Chorister and Organist. 

3. Music Recitals. 

1. It is not enough to train the intellect 
in the Sunday school, but we should also 
aim. to train the will and the feelings, for 
the soul is reached through all three medi- 
xinis— intellect, will and feelinp^. Now, mu- 
sic is the lanp:uage of the feelings and we 
must not neglect this avenue to the soul. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 617 

As the instruction is graded to the depart- 
ment, so the music should also be graded, 
for ungraded music can no more reach a 
child than ungraded instruction, 

2. Chorister and Organist. These two 
offices may be united in one person, but it 
matters not how small a school is someone 
should be in charge of the music and re- 
sponsible for it. In the case of the Begin- 
ner's Department there should be a separate 
organist who will also act as chorister to 
prepare the songs and motion songs which 
ought always to be employed with these 
children. 

3. Music Recitals will be found to take 
care of all the expenses of the music de- 
partment, which should plan to cultivate 
the musical art in school, church and home, 
through a competent music teacher and di- 
rector, on salary wherever possible. 

V. Organized Classes. 

1. Regular Organized Classes. 

2. Abdemelech and Debbora Classes. 



618 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

1. Regular Organized Classes. All 
classes from 15 years up should be organ- 
ized, i. e., beginning with the Senior De- 
partment, these classes up to 20 inclus- 
ive will come within the regular grades, 
and effort must be made to limit the num- 
bers in each class to some reasonable num- 
ber, something like a dozen, or a dozen and 
a half to the class, if possible to secure 
enough teachers. Officers are elected, suit- 
able committees appointed, and the 
same organization kept as the class is pro- 
moted until final graduation. This class or- 
ganization in the regular grades serves 
several very useful purposes. 

(a) It seems to hold the teen age pupils 
in school. 

(b) It seems to promote mutual interest 
in the class in school and after graduation. 

(c) It promotes social service and prac- 
tical Christianity. 

(d) It helps to increase responsibility 
and respect. 

It would not be a bad idea to organize 
classes from nine years up as class disci- 
pline is promoted by this means. 

2. Abdemelech and Debbora Classes. 
These classes are different from the regu- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 619 

lar organized classes of the grades just re- 
ferred to which are limited by age and 
number to the department to which they 
belong. The Abdemelech Class is for men 
only, and the Debbora Class is for women 
only, and there is no limit on age or num- 
ber. In fact, the idea here is to get togeth- 
er a very large class, and the larger, the 
better. The class is organized, commit- 
tees are appointed, and the class adopts a 
program which includes a definite object- 
ive worthy of the class and responsibility 
for financing it. There are many needs of 
a church that such a class could under- 
take to meet. The Sunday School Publish- 
ing Board issues a special magazine for 
these classes and suitable literature and ac- 
cessories. 

Both regular organized and also the Ab- 
demelech and Debbora Classes should elect 
representatives to the Workers' Conference 
of the school in proportion to their mem- 
bership. 

VI. Membership. 

1. Present Membership. 

2. What Membership is Standard. 

3. Increasing Membership. 



620 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

1. Present membership. This point on the 
membership of the school has been placed 
further down in the standard because it is 
first of all necessary to take proper care 
of the present membership, for if this is 
neglected, an increased membership will 
make the problem still harder, and it will 
not be long before the school will fall down 
to the same low level. Learn how to or- 
ganize and properly instruct the pupils we 
now have. 

2. What membership is standard in the 
case of a given school? That depends up- 
on the membership of the church. Includ- 
ing all the departments, each school should 
have a minimum membership equal to the 
membership of the church. That does not 
mean that this full number should be in at- 
tendance upon the school in person, but in- 
cludes all members of the Cradle Roll and 
Home Departments. This is a possible re- 
quirement and a reasonable standard. 

3. Increasing the m.embership. When once 
this standard is adopted by a school and 
an honest effort made to comply with the 
requirements, then the next thing in order 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 621 

is to aim to bring the membership of the 
school up to the standard requirement. This 
can be accomplished by individuals, by 
classes, and by an annual drive all togeth- 
er. There is a way of increasing the at- 
tendance by rewarding the scholars of a 
class with a card of a certain color to be 
replaced v/ith a card of another color when 
a certain number is held, and a number of 
the last color leading to the present of some 
book. The Sunday School Publishing Board 
will furnish the cards at a reasonable price. 
This puts the class to work all the year 
round. In the case of the drive, the reward 
is given only to a class as a whole, and the 
drive should last one whole month culmi- 
nating the Rally Day when the final report 
is m_ade and the award presented. 

VII. The Cradle Roll. 

There are some Baptists that misunder- 
stand the purpose and method of this de- 
partment, regarding it as caterin.8: to^ a 
sentiment that sometimes calls for blessing 
children in church, etc. But the Cradle 
Roll child is not brought into the rej2:ular 
church or school services, but to the Begin- 



622 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

ner's Department once where he is wel- 
comed as a future member. The object of 
this department is to reach the mother and 
make her feel the obligation to see to it 
that her child attends the regular school 
when it reaches its fourth year or earlier. 
All the literature and accessories can be 
supplied by our Sunday School Publishing 
Board. The mothers of Cradle Roll children 
should be organized into a Band and they 
should meet at stated periods to discuss 
training, physical and spiritual, and for 
social purposes. 

This department should also take the lead 
in agitating for nurseries at churches so 
that mothers can enjoy services while babies 
are cared for by workers of the Cradle 
Roll who volunteer for such service. 

VIII. Home Department. 

1. For the Employed. 

2. For the Invalids. 

3. Methods. 

1. The object of the Home Department 
is to give some of the advantages of the 
Sunday school to those whose employment 
prevents their attendance upon the school 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 628 

in person, or whose duties otherwise stand 
in the way. These sign a pledge to read 
the lesson from the Bible and quarterly at 
least one-half hour each week. 

2. In some eases there are chronic suf- 
ferers who cannot attend. It will be a 
source of comfort to such invalids to be 
present in spirit when unable to attend in 
person. In this way the school will grow 
interested in visiting the sick and helping 
to care for the needy. 

3. Methods. There are two methods by 
which this department may be conducted. 

(a) The pupils are enrolled and fur- 
nished quarterlies and collection envelopes 
and a certificate of membership, but the 
visitor makes only one visit a quarter, and 
then furnishes a new supply. This method 
succeeds in some cases. Of course the pu- 
pils are notified and invited to attend all 
entertainments and social functions of the 
regular school. 

(b) But another method of conducting 
this department provides for the division 
of the territory or membership into several 
groups, and each group meets at a stated 
time at night, in some home, where the visi- 



624 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

tor or a special person put in charge of that 
group who may be designated a captain, 
or otherwise, meets the group and teaches 
the lesson each week. In some cases this 
method succeeds when the other fails. Once 
a quarter some home departments come to- 
gether a week night for instruction or a 
review by the pastor at the church. 

(c) Another method still, provides that 
this department co-operate with the Cradle 
Roll to establish family altars in each home, 
and make report on same to school, and 
that others besides workers and invalids be 
admitted, if they will not attend the regu- 
lar Sunday school. It is argued that 
through this latter class the school might, 
after all, come in close touch with the home, 
if such persons will only become active in 
the Home Department. 

It must be borne in mind that all plans 
are elastic and can be adjusted to local con- 
ditions. Make any change local conditions 
might demand, and remember, we are all 
after results and not just schemers. 

IX. Teacher Training. 

1. By Classes. 

2. By Correspondence.. 

3. Teachers' Meetings. 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 625 

1. There should be connected with each 
school a teacher training class composed of 
all officers and teachers from the superin- 
tendent down, and if the school is a large 
one there should be another class for pro- 
spective officers and teachers. If the school 
is small, both regulars and prospectives 
might unite in the same class. The person 
to teach this class should either be the pas- 
tor or the superintendent, or some day 
school teacher, if a faithful one can be se- 
cured. The text book should in all cases 
be the one printed and recommended by the 
Sunday School Publishing Board. Exami- 
nation papers will be filed with said Board 
and diplomas issued by the same Board up- 
on completion of the course of study. 

It would be an excellent plan to have the 
pupils of the Young People's Department — 
18 to 21 years — take up the study of teach- 
er training. 

2. By Correspondence. Another way to 
take this course is for each person who de- 
sires to do so to take the course by corre- 
spondence through our Sunday School Pub- 
lishing Board. In that case all examina- 
tions will be conducted from Headquarters, 

Sig.~21 



626 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 



and the correspondent will pay the postage, 
and for his diploma. No one may enroll in 
the classes or by correspondence until first 
the Board's teacher training book is pur- 
chased. All diplomas may be publicly pre- 
sented in the school or one of the annual 
state or national gatherings as desired. 

3. Teachers' Meetings could be used for 
the double purpose of studying the lesson, 
and also for the general preparation for 
the work found in the teacher training 
course, and this class could be identified 
with the regular teachers' meeting, one-half 
the time devoted to each. This will be 
found practicable, but care must be used 
to have both classes during that hour or 
period, and one should not be neglected for 
the other. 

X. Workers^ Conference. 

1. Officers and Teachers. 

2. Representatives of Organized Classes. 
1. It is now a very late day for schools 

to still follow the out-of-date practice of 
transacting the business of the school in 
the regular Sunday session of the school. 
Of course in the case of small schools 
we might proceed in this way some- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 627 

times. In most cases now the business 
is referred to the regular meeting of 
the teachers. This is much better, 
but business should be attended to at stated 
periods, and the regular teachers' meeting 
should be for lesson study and general 
preparation. The plan now growing in 
general favor is to have a regular Workers' 
Conference to be composed not only of 
teachers, but of all the officers of the school, 
to meet at least once in three months for 
business, to report on the condition of the 
school and to adopt new nlans. 

2. Representatives of the regular or- 
ganized classes in the grades, and of the 
Abdemelech and Debbora Classes, should 
be requested or at least invited to sit as reg- 
ular members of the Workers' Conference. 
There might be one representative for each 
dozen and half or less of members in the 
classes. It will be found that in a number 
of lar2:e schools there are found persons in 
organized classes whose advice would ma- 
terially help the administration and also 
make them" feel a deeper interest in the 
work. 



628 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

XI. Special Instruction. 

1. Missionary. 

2. Temperance. 

3. Social Purity. 

1. The Bible is the text book of the Sun- 
day school, and should always be, and this 
suggestion of special instruction is not 
intended in any way to take the place of 
the regular study of the Bible from the 
Bible passage under consideration each 
Sunday. But this special instruction is 
intended both to direct emphasis in the 
regular teaching of the lesson, and to sup- 
plement the regular Bible lesson. One way 
to impart this special instruction is to 
weave it into the regular teaching of the 
lesson when such opportunity comes ih the 
study, and another method is for the su- 
perintendent or division superintendent to 
impart the special instruction to the as- 
sembled division or whole school by short 
talks by himself, or some one who has espe- 
cially prepared for it. It will never be in 
order to substitute this special instruction 
for the study of the regular lesson. Mis- 
sionary instruction is needed both to train 
the school as to the fundamentals of mis- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 629 

sion service and also to enable the school 
to know the success and extent of the mis- 
sions in all lands. The Christian training 
that neglects service as a means and an end 
will not answer the purpose, and if such 
instruction is to be effective special instruc- 
tion in the history of missions is necessary 
to complete the training. 

2. Temperance is another subject of vi- 
tal importance to the home as well as the 
foreign field. Prohibition will fail unless 
there is created a healthy public sentiment 
to back up the law. But we should go fur- 
ther and not teach temperance to make us 
law-abiding only, but as a matter of Chris- 
tian self-control which is fundamental in 
the religion of Christ. 

3. Social purity is a matter of much im- 
portance to this and succeeding generations 
and yet it is a matter so generally neglected 
by responsible persons and organizations 
that the government has sent out a general 
alarm and warned us of the frightful situa- 
tion. We are losing a splendid opportunity 
to serve our people and our country as well 
as our God as long as we fail to especially 
stress social purity in our Sunday schools. 
But one thing must be observed in all such 



630 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 



instructions, and that is to see to it that it 
IS properly graded to the age of the pupil, 
and IS imparted with becoming soberness 
and moral earnestness. The class is the best 
place to impart it, and the next would be 
the division. Under no circumstances 
should we allow a talk before the school by 
a stranger unless first of all we have con- 
ferred and learned how the matter would 
be presented. But a great deal must be 
done in this direction by personal work on 
the part of the teacher. 

XII. Special Days. 

1. Children's Day. 

2. Bible Day. 

3. Rally Day. 

4. Decision Day. 

1. Children's Day. Recently, the cus- 
tom of observing special days to help cer- 
tain causes on the outside of the school has 
become so general as to tend to lessen in- 
terest in this method of rallying the school 
to some good cause, but we cannot afford 
to let the work suffer. Of course, Easter 
Day has no proper place on the calendar of 
a Missionary Baptist Church or school. But 
Children's Day is our day. This could be 
set for the regular Easter day if desirable, 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 631 

and it would be a good plan to do this so as 
to afford our schools special interest at a 
time when others are interested. But the 
best time for Children's Day is around the 
second Sunday in June when the season is 
warm and all nature is aglow, and the chil- 
dren can dress in cool attire without the 
risk^of catching cold. Easter is generally 
observed very selfishly for our own pleas- 
ure, but Children's Day is observed for the 
purpose of raising funds to carry forward 
the work of Sunday school and religious 
education. 

2. Bible Day. This day is observed for 
the purpose of raising money to be used in 
purchasing Bibles for the destitute at home 
and abroad. 

3. Rally Day is the closing day of the 
Membership Drive upon which the award 
will be presented to the class bringing in 
the largest number of new pupils for the 
month closing on that day. 

4. Decision Day is intended as a climax 
to the effort to bring the pupils to an open 
confession of Christ. On this day the usual 



632 HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 

lesson may be dispensed with and the en- 
tire service given over to secure the con- 
version of the pupils. They retire to their 
classes, not for lesson study but for 
prayer and to make a special appeal to the 
unconverted of the class, and to sign cards. 
Then when the class reassembles with the 
school an opportunity for open confession 
is given. This day should be announced 
after conference with the pastor. 

XIII. Finance. 

The Budget Plan. Most schools raise 
their own expenses and pay their own 
bills and also contribute to outside objects. 
Some advocate the church fully financing 
the school, receiving and disbursing all 
money raised in the school. But the first 
plan is employed in about all the schools 
among us. The best way to raise money in 
the school is by the budget plan, which im- 
plies that at the beginning of the year the 
school should decide just how much money 
it should contribute to its expenses and 
toward the different missionary and char- 



HOW TO STUDY AND TEACH THE BIBLE. 633 

itable objects and also to the expenses 
of the church; and all of these items 
should be added together and the total 
should then be divided by the whole num- 
ber of pupils from the Junior age up- 
ward, and all pupils from Junior age up 
should be asked each to contribute this pro- 
portionate amount as the minimum for the 
year, and each should be urged to do as 
much more than the minimum as possible 
in order to make up for some who may not 
raise their quota. Each one is then asked 
to pledge definitely the amount he will con- 
tribute, and try to contribute it in equal in- 
stallments each Sunday of the year. Each 
contributing pupil should be requested to 
raise the money he contributes by his own 
personal effort and industry. 

QUESTIONS. 

1 Name the general items that 2fre covered in the 
standard? ^. ^ . 

2. Why are the items presented in this order? 

3. Rewrite the entire standard. 

4. Use your utmost influence to secure its adoption 
in your school. 

Siff.— 22 



This Standard can be obtained to post in Sunday school 
at a reasonable price. As fast as a school attains prop- 
ficiency in any one point a blue seal is to be applied, a 
red seal for four points, a silver star for nine points and 
ai g-old seal for thirteen points. These will be furnished 
at cost upon satisfactory evidence of first class work 
for number indicated. Schools with the g'old seal will be 
enrolled in the minutes of our National Baptist Conven- 
tion upon thorough investig-ation as standard schools. ^ 



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